Four years ago, I received a burned CD copy of an unreleased album. Hastily written on the disc in black marker was the band’s name, The Marcus Brothers. The CD contained an album-worth of explicitly Orthodox rock. It was something of an underground Chabad secret, the group’s core members two real-life brothers, one of them a Lubavitcher emissary in California.
Video of them performing in the Extended Article!
Yeshiva of Rock
Four years ago, I received a burned CD copy of an unreleased album. Hastily written on the disc in black marker was the band’s name, The Marcus Brothers. The CD contained an album-worth of explicitly Orthodox rock. It was something of an underground Chabad secret, the group’s core members two real-life brothers, one of them a Lubavitcher emissary in California.
Video of them performing in the Extended Article!
The pair (occasionally joined by four other brothers singing back-up) eventually re-formed as The 8th Day and last month released their second album, “Brooklyn.” The record is something rare in the burgeoning business of frum rock. Instead of marketing a collection of revved-up wedding songs, The 8th Day takes its cues from contemporary popular music, from the dirge-like post-grunge of “C.D.S.G.” (Chassidim Don’t Say Goodbye) to the reggae-rock of “Wake Up.”
“Brooklyn” lacks some of the under-produced charm of that first bootleg, but it contains enough of its own to make it worthwhile. Foremost among its charms is the band’s melding of Hasidic pop and rock sounds. (Try finding another band that sings about bubbes with guitars grinding in the background.)
The 8th Day is at once yeshiva-oriented and musically up-to-date. Other ultra-Orthodox musicians tend to either be trapped in a liturgical-inspired genre (such as well-known Hasidic musician Avraham Fried, who happens to be the Marcus brothers’ uncle) or sacrifice the motifs of Hasidic culture for mass appeal (Matisyahu).
The 8th Day alternates its lyrics between English, Hebrew and Yiddish. This musical melting pot is what makes songs like “C.D.S.G” — with its soaring English-language chorus punctuated by a rat-a-tat-tat hip-hop delivery in Yiddish — so interesting. Unfortunately, the band’s English lyrics too often tend toward weakly formulated clichés (“The hearts are broken, how can you shatter a dream?” on “Broken Hearts”). Nevertheless, “Brooklyn” is an album well worth examining — at the very least to see the enormous influence that modern rock is exerting on a new generation of Hasidic musicians.
The 8th Day playing “Yarmulke Blues”
cali girl
major fan……..lovin it!!!! have it playing all day long……..
sholom
does anyone have a link to the video of them singing the song "babanyou"?
Brooklyn Fan
i’ll see them at the carlbach shul on Aug. 28th, their new album is amazing.
tanteF
right on…this is the album that stands out among the rest for the heartwarming lyrics and very different sound.
big fan from cali
the bass player that they use by live shows is just like FLEA (the jewish flea)
i think his name is isaiah
noah feldman
awesome.did the forward do the article cuz there’s yiddish in their songs?
ha! just kidding.
good to see that a Y.U. person gets 8th Day. (but then again, the writer of the article is not your typical YU person, having written for some mainstream papers.) maybe if noah feldman had heard it he wouldn’t have married the shiksa?
in any case, all the hearts are broken is actually the best line on the cd. but you can only have a broken heart or understand what it means if you have a heart from the start (milichatchilah, heist ess).
in any case, i look forward to their NY debut concert at the carlebach shul.
Aron
I thinks these guys are great – We just finished summer camp where their album was a big hit with the kids. They came to Florida to do a concert almost a year ago and they really got everyone off their chairs and dancing. They have toichen and are really amazing. I hope they have alot of success and make many more albums!
MMSZR
You guys so rock! Great new album, big fan… my kids keep dancing when they hear it, especially Babenyou. Keep the music coming – Super concert in Poway last week! S. Diego will never be the same.
Leah P.
dennis prager called it bah-bay-nu (emphasis on the "bay") at Rabbi Cunin’s telethon. that was a hoot and a half. whatever you call it, that song does rock. especially the end when he does that russian (what does that mean?), and calls out the thing before each round, gives me the chills. i read that it is an alternative to "my zeidy" by moshe yess which is depressing but bah-bay-nu is upbeat and says am yisrael chai, the bubby is still cookin’!!!!!! awesome! there is so much hidden toichen in all these songs every time i listen i hear more and more messages coming out (or maybe i’m imagining them??)
the broken hearts also tugs at my heart strings, it is mamosh the Rebbe’s cry of ad mosai expressed so vividly. is that last line from a sicha or something?
i would have liked to hear another acapala one like on the first one.
anyhow, rock on 8th day.a major kidush hashem. looking forward to the carlbach shul concert!
lazer
i have an autistic son and he sings ther song all the time thay (8th day)are special in my heart
vos achiluk
1st album was better. would like to see them revert to the playfulness of #1 vs the attempted commercial professionalism of #2.