DAN MARISKA AND THE BOYS CHOIR

Mariska… sounds like a fully formed talent throughout It’s All Okay. Mariska’s quavering understated tenor recalls Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan, and he appears to possess a similarly eclectic muse, taking confident stabs at both hypnotic midtempo indie-pop (the epic and excellent title track) and jaunty alt-country (the sassy slide-guitar-powered kiss-off “Girlhouse”). [Rob Van Alstyne, City Pages]

Spotting a reformed emo listener is a simple task; the lingering vulnerability and vocal tics are unmistakable. Those clues are ripe in Dan Mariska, a local singer/songwriter who boasts a rarer emo streak: The guy is a dead ringer for Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard. He’s not all weeps and whines, though. Like many reared on Get Up Kids and Dashboard Confessionals in the early ’00s, Mariska — who also fronts local band the King and the Thief — is of the indie-folk bent nowadays. [Vita.mn]