Music: "The Mercury Seed, Throwing Rocks At The Sun (themercuryseed.com). Still holding on to their catchy, hook-laden guitar rock with a bit o' twang, The Mercury Seed have lightened since their Dust album of a few years back. Tunes like 'Sinking Like A Stone' and 'Start Again' deliver a smoky Black Crowes groove while other tracks recall latter-day Bon Jovi: hearty, lighter, melodic. A couple of hidden bonus cuts pop up on this CD (tracks 16, 19 and 21, an acoustic version of 'Liferaft').
—Craig Gilbert
The Mercury Seed play a CD release show at Daniel Street on July 12, which doubles as a benefit for environmental non-profit Save the Sound. Pre-party at 7 p.m. Music kicks off with Seth Adam at 9 p.m.
Album, Nice Work Introvert (albumlovesyou.com). Album describes their own style as "formulaic, cliché-ridden rock music," which is hard to argue. Nice Work falls somewhere between '90s alt-rock redux and pop-emo pastiche, and it draws from the most accessible points of both. Everything happens exactly where and when one might expect—the quiet, moody bits; the cathartic, big-guitars bits; the strained-vocals bits. But the craft in all of this is evident—the hooks are present, the songs are tightly-structured. So it's possible to be formulaic without being crass about it.
—Brian LaRue
Album plays July 13 at the Webster in Hartford with Sugarfist, David James, i, Flu and Audiophile Junkie."
