Mercury Project (FastMusic)
by Scott Hefflon
‘Bout time someone signed this band! I have a release called Geekcore on Pork’n’Beans that no one seems to’ve heard of (even their label asked what I was talking about) that blew me away. The Mercury Project recalls the anger, power, and wild vibrato of Tilt, the pure pop joy of Dance Hall Crashers, and a fresh, late ’90s punk take on ’80s standards like The Bangles and The Go-Go’s. Geekcore, incidentally, may hold the record for containing the bonus track I’ve put on the most mixed tapes – the stripped-down, unnamed, “add-on” I’ve named “Fuck Alannis Morrisette” that begs the question “If you hate guys so much, then why do you suck dick?”
Luckie Strike opens this record with one of their angriest tracks, but then bops merrily into SW territory with nary a look back or self-conscious “What? Can’t we play all different kinds of music?” And when it clicks that song four is, um, instrumental prog, you know they’re just fuckin’ with you. Best song title: “Danny Elfman Got Me Dressed Today.” Best song: the cover of the Beach Boys’ “Sloop Jon B” (You know the one: “Let me go home, oh let me go home, well blah blah blah blah, I wanna go home”). An anthem that digs so deep, it’s borderline spiritual, ya know?
(401 Broadway #2011 New York, NY 10013)