With a sound somewhere between Fischerspooner and Pet Shop Boys, Philly’s The Model is pushing electronic music’s boundaries.

“Physical is pop music, which is easy to do, though not everyone can do it,” says Markie Model, singer for The Model. He’s talking about his band’s debut album. Like his bandmates Johnny (with whom Markie started The Model), Jason, and Ziggy, he’s on a first-name only basis with the world. “I don’t believe that I, or music, can change people, or change the world. I used to believe I could, personally, with what I said or what I did—but I don’t think so any longer.”
A lot of Markie’s disaffection stems from his immediate past. He started writing the record along the Jersey shore after touring as a member of Crystal Skulls. He hated touring and developed a beef with the Skulls’ Christian Wargo (currently in Fleet Foxes). “It became disruptive to my functioning,” says Markie. “I also came to realize that I loved Christian, but hated playing in someone else’s band.”
Out of that pretty hate machine came the schizophrenic Physical, an album that has blood in its tracks and dirt in its beats. As for the album’s lyrics and melodies, he doesn’t understand their relevance yet. “I am aware of the possibility that probably every person interviewed about their music probably considered the music of their time largely shit, or at least irrelevant, and they were probably right to think that way at the time though it may not be true now, “says Markie. “But what do I know?” Judging by Physical, I’d say a decent amount.
A.D. Amorosi