Mercies - Teen Mom -- Black Cat - Aug 7 2011

Teen Mom - This is the first time I have seen this trio. Rich, hard, melodic indie rock pummels out of the PA instantly. There some quirky quiet moments with a Pixies-like dynamic, but not as extreme. Smooth vocals are on top of it all and the songs capture a simple hook well enough, but are played by all three guys with a plan of attack where they are comfortable putting their original music phrasing into the basic structure. In other words, this stuff rocks. They remind me a bit of Squirrel Bait with their sense of melody and originality they expressed in their all too brief time together. I hope people check this band out and listen closely for the excellent qualities they sneak into their songs.

Mercies - This is my third time for this trio. They sound stronger than ever (well, at least after a false start they pushed through easily enough). I have always enjoyed their slightly askew take on indie rock and they seem to have an even stronger personal touch to their music making a simple definition difficult. The songs are interesting with plenty of instrumental flourish. The drumbeats have an interesting complexity to them allowing the bass and guitar to roam around a bit while keeping the rhythm throughout. Vocals are again interesting with two voices working together frequently in fun ways that move beyond one voice on verse and two voices on chorus. On the downside, the sound was a bit murky at times and a broken string caused a short delay allowing audience members to tell bad jokes. Where is Roy Harper or Robyn Hitchcock when you need them? The crowd swelled to 35-45 people at any one time and they pushed for an encore which was well delivered despite the band's fingers crossed hopes on getting through it. If you have not seen this band, do so. I always hope to see 10 more people at every show I attend for the local bands that can deliver quality sets like this. And both these bands tonight showed the ability to move up to larger audiences.

Quote of the Night: Well, this is actually from a while ago at an English Premier League website...

We really quite badly wanted Miralem Pjanic to sign for Spurs (or anyone in our nation's capital really), just so we could use the headline 'Pjanic on the streets of London.'