James Rabbit, the Santa Cruz-formed project centered around Tyler Martin’s songwriting, released their 16th album Marvels last month. Marvels is the final James Rabbit album recorded at the Santa Cruz “Crystal Palace”, which since 1999 was Martin’s home, a recording studio, practice space, and live venue for Santa Cruz artists until it was demolished this year. “We were going to just do a 10–12 song album, but in the middle of recording the property’s owner finally decided to tear down the house,” says Martin. “I thought, ‘It might be a while before we get to record another album, may as well go for an all out extravaganza.”” The result is an 18-track album full of incredibly catchy melodies, but plenty of weirdness and surprises throughout. Marvels is simply a lot of fun, which I’m sure will translate into their show this Wednesday at the Night Light, one of the final dates of their November West Coast tour. You can listen to Marvels below, and many of James Rabbit’s back catalog on their Bandcamp page.

James Rabbit, Iji, The Spencer Owen Timeshare, Shaggy Sample
The Night Light
November 20, 2013
9pm, $5