The Mercers – Giant (Independent)
I would like you to go out right now, take the quickest route to your nearest town centre, bang on the local record shop door until the proprietor hangs his head out of the upstairs window, tell him to get his weary butt downstairs and open the door, thus letting you in so that you can order a copy of this excellent album. Then demand buns and coffee while you await delivery…

Yeah, right, what record shop..?

Still, it would have been a good idea a few years back, and well worth the agro just to listen to any and all of these 7 tracks. And, a few years back, believe it or not, I could have actually done it; although Tony (at the shop) might have thought I was being a tad over-eager - but only a tad.

I can’t quite put Giant in any particular category, and I don’t like comparing bands as it can be off-putting when someone names a band as similar, and you don’t like that band (and the other 6 groups mentioned, that you would happily go along with, get put to one side… am I right?). What I will say is that I got the same rising neck hairs when I first discovered The National, Nada Surf, Spoon and more recently Mexico City (see my review of Brown Bird on 25-1-10). And the final track, “Val Value”, is obviously a great lost REM track that this Austin, Texas, foursome unearthed somewhere south of our wonder.

So, folks, in a nutshell this is... er… a ‘GIANT’ of an album!
www.myspace.com/themercers
Kev A.

KUt 90.5 Live Set: The Mercers

KUt 90.5 Live Set: The Mercers from Texas Music Matters at KUT on Vimeo.

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