REVIEW : Mercury Rev See You on the Other Side (Beggars Banquet)
- Martin Bate
A few people seemed to have buried Mercury Rev before they've even heard this. The reasoning goes like this: charismatic and downright strange singer David Baker left last year after one too many arguments and pretty quickly came out with his Shady project which saw him working, among others, with members of the Boo Radleys and Swervedriver. The album, World, was a well balanced combination of the weird and the wonderful and seemed to contain a large element of the style that had endeared Mercury Rev's first two albums - Yerself is Steam which in retrospect promised more than it offered, and the follow-up, Boces, which was the quite brilliant realization of that promise - to all that heard them. This then implied that David Baker was God and Mercury Rev would be scum without him. See You on the Other Side is the evidence that this belief is a huge amount of bollocks.
Mercury Rev are a rock band - with flute and brass and lots more, it should be added - that are unconstrained by form and style, blurring boundaries because they weren't even aware they existed. Previously, their beautiful pop melodies were smothered with feedback and found sounds and sometimes a distracting air of eccentricity as if they didn't want you to get too close. *That* is what has left with David Baker, as the rest of the band and their songs are now allowed to breathe in wide-eyed wonder. Guitarist Jonathan Donahue takes up vocal duties, his pure clear voice not being unfamiliar to Mercury Rev fans of any standing.
The journey begins with "Empire State", a big-budget movie of a song, all gasping tales and flute, before it twists into more disconcerting waters and explodes with squealing sax, wndswept rock-opera guitars and the sound of the building coming down round your ears. This, let us not forget is just the first song.
Next up is the fairly simple "Young Man's Stride" which rocks like a 90's T-Rex before "Sudden Ray of Hope", all summery 70's pop complete with flute, sax and "do-doo"s before it drops into a dirty pimp-funk organ hustle where most people would put a guitar solo. Bloody jaw-dropping.
"Everlasting Arm" sounds like the dreamy recollection of childhood Christmases, aided by some whistling, sleigh-bell piano and chimes, and a lone sad trumpet and its chorus of "Up where there's an everlasting arm/that keeps us free from harm". Nonsense ? Of course, but no less emotionally affecting for it.
But it's the trio of songs that open up the second side that are convincing beyond all reasonable doubt. "Racing the Tide" is a sad, accoustic piece in the tradition of "Frittering", which meanders beautifully for 7 minutes or so before some bongos start up as the whole thing starts to drift away and the disco-funk of "Close Encounters of the 3rd Grade" clicks in. A magical moment to say the least, and the fact that its soulful whoops are set off by someone playing a bowed saw (!) takes it to another planet! Minutes later it segues into "A Kiss From an Old Flame", a 30's romance set to waltz time finishing with some beautiful "da-da-daaa"s as the piano tinkles and your heart flutters.
It all ends too soon with the piano-bar blues of "Peaceful Night", the perfect invitation to turn it over and start again.
Not once do Mercury Rev come over as experimental or weird - the whole album sounds perfectly natural and wonderful. They're not ones to throw instruments and styles in for the sheer hell of it - everything is there because its part of the vision. Sure it'll sound too dewey- eyed romantic if you've just split up with your other half, but in any other state of mind it'll have you gasping and smiling and crying for joy.
Magical!
