Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum

Surprisingly perfect eclectic 2000s rock. An excellent addition.

I submitted this, so of course I think it's a 5 star worthy album. But, really, it's a 5 star worthy album. Tally Hall creates interesting melodies and lyrics that range from thought provoking to goofy. They're the greatest and most popular band that never were. I saw them in a high school gymnasium early in their career and thought "these guys are going to be huge!". Then they ALMOST WERE. They signed a major record deal. They were touring on Good Morning America and shit. They had a song featured on The OC right when the OC was absolutely the biggest thing on TV. They had a hit youtube show back before Youtube shows were really a thing. And then they imploded an they all went their separate ways. Ross went back to school. Rob created one of the biggest internet memes ever with "Actual Cannibal Shia Lebouf". They doing music for children's television now. I still think back to this album and what could have been. I think Gen Z has sort of discovered them and now they're a popular Tik Tok thing? Good for them!

As interesting as the location of the album’s namesake, Marvin’s is one of my all-time favorites.

Wow! I live in Ann Arbor, have been to Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum many times, had heard of the band Tally Hall, but never really listened to them and didn't know this album existed. What a revelation to not only find an album that hits so close to home, but to top it off it's really, really good. Excellent, up-beat energy. 5 stars!

I had no expectations of this. I've never heard of this band, and in my research, they are a college band from Ann Arbor, MI. Quirky and well produced. The lead singer made that Shia LeBeouf cannibal video from 10+ years ago. Nothing super memorable but it was enjoyable. Little to no re-listenability for me though. Still, enjoyable listen. 3.5/5, but rounding down to 3 because I rated many better albums than this as 4/5.

Pre-Tumblr internet forums absolutely popped off for this shit. They could barely handle this much condensed musical theater kid energy. Honestly, I had all but written off this album as "not my thing" while listening to it until Ruler of Everything; wasn't expecting a song that good to punch me in the face right near the end, but it was enough to earn it 3 stars.

I really appreciate how these User Albums expose us to a really diverse range of music that I would never otherwise listen to, sometimes they click but sometimes they don't. Unfortunately this one fell with a thud.

Oh god no how annoying. 2/5.

Rock

7/10. I went back on forth on whether I found this irritating or charming. I did laugh a bit at the "end rhymes are not my fort" line. Don't know that I needed a bonus track that, by the sound of it, features about 10 Muppet chickens but no one is making me listen to the bonus tracks I can stop whenever I want

Whacky and silly from time to time. But very fun album

Sorta would rather listen to the "Simlish" version of the full album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r5r8yii6Rg

Like an American version of XTC or Squeeze.

An invitation into the museyroom has certain inevitable weight. Tally Hall branded maximalism has its charms in assault, not walking sounds or soft-spoken explanations. Though the album lacks a particular narrative thread, it avoids going off the rails in lingering; Excess in style is rather appealing.

Quand même pas de sens c'est un bon album. J'ai aimé et jamais je serais tomber sur ce.type de musique par moi même. 3.5

A little too high of a quirk factor for me, about consistent for a band with two ukulele credits. I'm also not convinced many of the lyrics meant much of anything, though I'm willing to entertain I'm too dumb or too lazy to figure them out. I can't fully trash it given the high technical acumen on display and I didn't hate it or anything.

Good sound but not my personal taste

I don’t really have a problem with Tally Hall, but while listening to this album I couldn’t help but think that they’re kinda AJR-adjacent, which tainted the whole experience for me. AJR sucks. 5/10

Never heard of this band before. Decent record, but nothing for me to get too excited about.

I thought this was pretty cool actually. Nice songs and a good vibe. What else do you need?

I was not aware of the band. Did not click on me, but thanks for suggesting

This is why I love this project. This album is a strange mix of 2000s indie rock, baroque pop, experimental rock, jazz, and Americana. The result is a whimsical album that isn’t afraid to explore its own weirdness while remaining accessible and memorable. It reminds me of a mix between Weezer and Beck though that doesn’t quite encompass what Tally Hall are doing. I will be listening to it again for sure.

It was certainly an eccentric album. I had never heard of the album, the band, or any songs previously. I do not have a need to revisit.

If you’re listening to this and wondering what does any of this mean, then you perfectly understand what makes Ann Arbor great and awful at the same time. Mix in the quirky ness of weird comedy in the 00s, 5 artists from U of M and you get this album. It’s easy to see exactly why they didn’t maintain their popularity as the quirky comedy trope died in the 00s. And lastly, Go Green! Biased rating but this is rough. 2.5/10

Fun and unexpected. Quirky, melodic and really enjoyable. Reminds me of something in the vein of Ben Folds, Jellyfish, Fountains of Wayne and Barenaked Ladies. Though some of the songs become a bit goofy, Banana Man, Two Wuv, they all have pretty good hooks which make the album a great surprise.

Some silly fun here… kind of reminded me of the Barenaked Ladies or something along those lines. I really liked “Just Apathy” then “Spring and a Storm” had me full on in love. I’m sold on this album. A love song to Mary-Kate and Ashley? I’m in! “Ruler of Everything” is fantastic. The bonus tracks were well worth a listen. I loved the chicken song “Mucka Blucka”. Loads of fun! Catchy and terrific!

Quirky and fun.

Great!

I loved being introduced to this. They do like to play it all. So much fun! Five stars for five neat guys!

Songs from this album have been popping up in playlists based on songs I like in Spotify recently, so nice to get the album here.

It's got a lot of Ben Folds in it. Pretty decent album. Different than what the title implies. I'd listen to it again.

It's like TMBG for more modern theater kids

Hmm. There were bits I loved, especially when it went full 70s overblown fun. It was wildly varied as well. For ambition I'd give it five stars. However, none of the songs stuck in my brain or hit me emotionally, so it doesn't quite hit it. It's still glorious, but for me it's just got those final few inches to be five stars.

Somewhere between a quirky musical and pop rock record. Definite Sparks vibes. A lot of fun! Rating: 4 Playlist track: Good Day Date listened: 06/12/24

A friend introduced me to this band in high school so I knew a few of the tracks here, but I had mostly forgotten the odd little niche this band has embraced with open arms. What you get out of this album depends on your affinity for tongue-in-cheek quirkiness – to me, this LP really toes the line between wit and embarrassing goofiness at times, but overall things work for a majority of the runtime. There are some fun instrumentals to be had, and love them or hate them, there are some clever lyrics here that fit the alt-rock vibe perfectly. While I don’t know if I would return to this as a full album, there are definitely some fun, creative tracks here I added to my library and I had a good amount of fun during my listen.

Good times I should have had already.

Reminds me of They Might Be Giants. Very quirky, amusing pop with guitar riffs, but a touch too much barbershop-style vintage vocals a bit like what Freddie Mercury and Queen liked to do.

lmao 3 4 wtf is banana man 3

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Taken for a ride, Be born

Alternative rock, indie rock, power pop, baroque pop, garage rock, psychedelic rock. Ni fu ni fa.

Skemmtilegt stöff, ansi original á sumum stöðum.

Weirdly, I could place what year this album was from by looking at the band's promo photo. The title and name gave me big 70s vibes, which, after listening, is definitely what they're going for: harmonies that remind me of the Beach Boys, and really swinging for the magnum opus-likes of "Sgt. Pepper's". Occasionally flits into musical theater territory. On a personal level, it reminds me of the band I Fight Dragons if they weren't video-game-dorks and were just regular-dorks. Overall feeling? It's fine. It swings into "bad" territory whenever any of the members try to rap (not that they can't, it's just that it's... earnest but cringe-worthy), and "Banana Man" for being a liiiiittle, well, you know. With all due respect, it makes me think of TV shows like The Office or How I Met Your Mother: twee, adorkable, and maybe just a little too saccharine. Favorite tracks: "Greener", "Just Apathy"

It's fine. It kind of reminds me of a less entertaining Ween in some regards. I could see how others would enjoy it.

I really love how insane this album is. Some of it works better, some of it falls completely flat on its face, but the one thing that's consistent, is that you have no clue what the next song is going to be. Gotta be the only album in existence to have both the "Baroque Pop" and the "Hip Hop" tags in its Wikipedia infobox.

An amazing amount of 5s for what is a fairly insufferable album. I don't mind a comedy album if it's done well. This is just shite.

Frequently quirky, occasionally catchy and pleasant. Attempts to be lyrically clever fall flat more often than not. This feels like a band who took all the wrong lessons from a bunch of artists who are more talented than they are. I struggled a bit between the 2 and 3 on this one. It has its moments, and I generally appreciate Tally Hall's oddball sensibility. But, more often than not, I also find these guys to be pretty insufferable. Fave Songs: Greener, The Bidding, Spring and a Storm, Be Born

Just ok

Ajr ass theater kid ass music even if I secretly enjoyed a couple tracks I hated the experience.

Painfully hipster-y, nerd rap, video game samples, ukelele; I dislike a lot about this, 1 is a bit harsh but found myself either skipping or hoping every single song would end sooner. I got to "do you like how I dance, I have zirconium pants" and threw in the towel.