Rock lore tells that George Harrison's All Things Must Pass was crammed with so many great tunes because Harrison felt creatively stymied in the Beatles and was able to bring massive amounts of the good noise during the post-breakup closet-cleaning. It's said that you can hear the joy in Harrison's voice on that album, joy that came from him finally being able to take what was inside and show it to the world. Having listened to the album for the first time in a while this past week, I'm inclined to agree.

I hear some of that same joy on the second album by Mazarin, the band led by Quentin Stolzfus, former drummer for Azusa Plane. Stolzfus only played drums for the band part-time, as a chunk of the Plane's music was too drony to require extra percussion work. But this guy was wasting his talent dragging a violin bow across a ride cymbal; he's a songwriter with a real melodic gift.

Leaving the 20-minute d-chord mediations behind, Mazarin finds Stolzfus crafting punchy pop tunes with a rootsy edge. Acoustic guitar provides the foundation, the melodies are sung in two- and three-part harmony, and there's a countrified folk cast to A Tall Tale Storyline. And though this may sound like a backhanded compliment, some of it reminds me of Girlfriend-era Mathew Sweet. It's nowhere near as slick a record as that comparison would suggest, but both Stolzfus' voice and his 60s-inspired arrangements bear some similarity. And hey, I like Girlfriend.

"Go Home" opens A Tall Tale Storyline with the album's only bit of drone music, a whine that shifts gears and becomes crystalline, west-coast pop about three minutes in, complete with wordless vocal interplay and ringing guitar strums. It's no surprise when the eventual lyrics include the line, "Going back to California." The eight-minute opener is an anomaly; much more typical is the 3½-minute "What Sees the Sky?," with layered vocals that make you think there's got to be a Crosby, Stills or Nash hiding in the studio somewhere, and Byrdsian guitar chimes on the simple, effective chords.

The acoustic guitar is used to different effect on "2.22.1" and "RJF Variation 1," two lovely variations on the fingerpicking instrumental folk of John Fahey and Leo Kottke. "My Favorite Green Hill" could be one of the rock tunes on REM's Life's Rich Pageant, and "The Limits of Language" is almost pure country, complete with pedal steel and a Nashville lilt to the rhythm.

A Tall Tale Storyline is a diverse record, but all genres covered have their origins in American roots music, so the feel is unified. Mazarin can seem just a bit dilettantish at times (the straight county is just not terribly convincing somehow), but the stakes feel low, and this is an easy record to like. So consider putting those Azusa Plane records back on the stack, opening the shades, and giving the drummer some.

-Mark Richard-San, December 12th, 2001