Mercy River
Climbing
Big Galaxy Records
The tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania has a wealth of excellent new music to fill their weekend concert calendars. One of these bands, Mercy River, out of Marlton, New Jersey, is one of the best examples of this local scene. Mercy River has a full, robust sound and beautiful harmonies laid among even-handed and well-executed guitar melodies. No extra-heavy, overpowering drums or basslines, but a nice mix of rhythms that lay a perfect foundation for the harmonious and easily digested melodies. The first song off this CD to really catch my attention was “Wannabe,” a soulful, pointed attack on the person that lays too heavily on the partying lifestyle associated with the music industry and not on the value of the music itself. Starting off as what you might think will be ballad, with lazy blues riffs layered over a strumming acoustic, this song grows into an angry protest. Track 7, “Impermanently,” starts off nasty and raunchy, with deep, growling guitars and a throbbing bassline, then swings back and forth with sweet emotion and then right back again into the raunchy melody, just like those romance relationships we have all experienced…sweet one moment and nasty the next. The Climbing CD ends its journey of auditory adventure with “Need,” a song that begins with the sounds of percussion heartbeat and cries its way to the end with emotional heart thoughts wrapped up in sad acoustics and the smooth, cool vocals of Michael Vesper. Vesper is the composer of all of these Mercy River tunes, along with second guitarist, Jeff Kay, who also contributes mandolin in several songs on the recording. Rounding out this CD are the tunes, “A Little More,” “Not Just Anyone,” “Maybe I’m Lucky,” and five others. Recommended for fans of bands such as Matchbox 20, Creed, and Vertical Horizon. Find out more about Mercy River by visiting their Web site at www.mercyriver.com.
Full Moon Productions, 899 Fast Landing Rd., Dover, DE
