Shawndell Marks Punk Ballads Buzzcocks "Why Can't I Touch It"

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Roxbury, WI —Shawndell Marks’ fifth solo release "Punk Ballads" is already receiving praise for its provocative concept: reinterpreting testosterone-heavy angsty punk songs as dreamy, emotional piano ballads filmed and recorded live on an analog tape recorder. The album was produced by commercial director and creative Jayson Moyer who returned to his home state of Wisconsin after living in Los Angeles and several trips around the globe. While Moyer has received many accolades for his creative work, including a Clio award, this is his debut as music producer. The six-song EP collaboration with award-winning local musician Shawndell Marks of Gin,Chocolate & Bottle Rockets and Fleetwood Mac cover band Gold Dust Women features six tracks, including covers of Black Flag, Buzzcocks, and The Clash among others.
Punk Ballads quickly follows the release of Marks’ instrumental solo piano album, Keys to Unlock Your Dreams, winner of 2020 Madison Area Music Association’s Unique Album of the Year.
This pandemic project EP was born out of Moyer’s curiosity of what the disquiet, male-dominated guitar-heavy punk songs of his youth would sound like from a softer, but no less emotional, female perspective on the keys of a piano. For a multi-sensory experience, each song was filmed at various locations around Sauk County where crowds should be but are not because of the pandemic: beautiful and historic Al Ringling Theater, The Village Booksmith in downtown Baraboo, Sauk Prairie’s Freethinkers Hall, a gymnasium, and a high school hallway. While most of Marks’ previous albums were produced with full bands in well-equipped recording studios, the pair was interested in exploring a stripped-down approach to production, using only 2-3 microphones to record voice and piano or Fender Rhodes. The result is boldly imperfect, raw and soothing, gravel and honey.