Imagine this: You’re a member of a very talented trio. You’ve
\nbeen toiling at your craft for well over a decade. During that
\ntime, you’ve produced a respectable name for yourself, playing in
\nbars, small clubs and charity events. And after years of playing in
\nthese confined, sweaty places and breaking more guitar and bass
\nstrings than you can remember, you’re rewarded with a record
\ncontract.<\/p>\n
And after being signed to that record contract, you even manage
\nto land in the “Hot Upcoming Bands” section of
\nRolling Stone<\/i> in their year-end issue. Things only get
\nbetter. You snag a power producer who has made at least one college
\nradio classic. Then, all of a sudden, you hit the ceiling.<\/p>\n
The record label decides that rock is no longer as profitable as
\nsome other music genres and decides to drop nearly all of the bands
\non their label, including yours. You begin to endure the flags of
\nred tape as you and your bandmates get passed along to other
\ncompanies like a beer bong at a frat party. And to rub dust in your
\neyes, you wind up having to
\n
\nbuy<\/i>
\n<\/b> back the record you made with that producer and put it out
\nindependently – all the while, remaining optimistic that your all
\ntoo brief brush with the big leagues won’t be your last.<\/p>\n
This saga is poured out on Mercy Rule’s latest album
\nThe Flat Black Chronicles<\/i>, an album that almost never made
\nit to fans’ ears. Though not a concept album, the album itself has
\na general theme of what it means to be a band struggling to break
\nout. And in a weaker sense, the theme also involves the perspective
\nof a music fan.<\/p>\n
The trio, made up of husband and wife Heidi Ore on bass and Jon
\nTaylor on guitar, also features Ron Albertson on drums. They have
\nspecialized in making tight, catchy pop songs with equally strong
\nvocals. And after getting singed to Relativity (same label that
\nfeatured Joe Satriani), the band hooked up with producer Lou
\nGiordano.<\/p>\n
Giordano is no stranger to bands with power pop smarts. Some
\nbands that have worked with him include the Goo Goo Dolls and
\nSugar. The producer that gave
\nCopper Blue<\/i>, its slick, dirty brilliance matched with Ore’s
\npowerful vocals and Taylor’s driving guitars seemed like a logical
\npairing.<\/p>\n
And it works.
\nThe Flat Black Chronicles<\/i> is Mercy Rule’s best moments on CD
\nso far. It wastes no time hooking you in. “Underwhelmed,” hits you
\nwith Taylor’s tight, short guitar hooks as the song is in the
\nperspective of a fan who blows a night as well as some cash to
\ncatch a band. “You better make this worth my time right now\/ or I’m
\ngonna have to show you how,” Ore sings with a threatening tone.
\nIt’s message is clear: put up or shut up.<\/p>\n
The album doesn’t let up for a while. “Spark” and “b4u” follow
\nin the same vein as “Underwhelmed.” Taylor continuously shows his
\nguitar craft, especially in the galloping opening chords of “b4u,”
\nwhich also features a horn arrangement. While few rock bands can
\nadd horns without making their arrangements seem bloated, Giordano
\nkeeps them in the background, never allowing them to overshadow the
\nband.<\/p>\n
The album slows down a tad with “In A Box,” a decent ballad that
\nnever seems to fully resonate. By adding a piano, the track seems
\nto be one of the more over-produced songs in the bunch. The other
\nballad on the album, “Whatever Happens,” is far more powerful.<\/p>\n
The band’s bitterness with record companies and general trends
\nexplodes on two of the most hard-rocking songs on the album, “ksuk”
\nand “Break The Band.” The former song deals with radio stations who
\nlisten more to focus groups than the general concern of the
\nlisteners while the latter song deals with companies who shun
\nnurturing a promising band in favor of a quick profit. Gee, think
\nthese tracks may be autobiographical? “Break The Band” is also one
\nof the few songs on
\nFlat Black<\/i> were Anderson is free to let loose on the
\ndrums.<\/p>\n
The album ends on a satisfying one-two punch. The anti-image
\nsong, “Simple Word,” includes one of the great sing-along lines of
\nthe year as Ore screams, “Let me be who I want to be!” over and
\nover as the structured sound of the band breaks down after 40
\nminutes of discipline. And the hidden track is an amusing anecdote
\nof a all-night drive that far too many people can probably relate
\nto.<\/p>\n
Ore’s pregnancy during the recording of
\nFlat Black<\/i> may be the key reason her voice sounded so full.
\nIt could also be attributed to Giordano’s studio skills. Either
\nway,
\nFlat Black<\/i> is Ore’s best hour. And while it’s not on A&M
\nor Virgin, the album is available on Caulfield Records, a record
\ncompany whose staff helped Mercy Rule out of the Lincoln club
\ncircuit as well as welcomed them back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":24962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6075],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-36167","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-mercy-rule","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36167"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36167"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}