Mercy

Mercy is the Mens third consecutive album with the same lineup, but as ever, the Brooklyn-based group never stays in the same place stylistically. The release continues in the eclectic mode of 2018s Drift, rather than the back-to-basics noise-punk of 2016s Devil Music. All seven songs are vastly different, making the album sound like it could be a compilation of tracks from separate albums released throughout a bands long career, but mostly dating from the 70s and 80s. Opener Cool Water is one of the bands purest country-rock laments, awash in steel guitars and harmony vocals. Wading in Dirty Water sounds like a ten-minute excerpt of a jam session which never begins or ends, fading in with glistening keyboards and a steadily trotting rhythm, then following its brief verses with a bounty of acid guitar soloing. Children All Over the World seems like a shot at 80s stadium rock, with a neon synth riff and hoarse vocals shouted with gusto, but its not quite hook-filled enough to actually resemble a genuine radio single, particularly since it also contains a generous amount of extended guitar soloing. Breeze is the albums most compact, straightforward rock song, packing more energy than the rest of the album combined into three minutes. The albums sparse title track is genuinely haunting, particularly the line I need mercy at the hour of my death. ~ Paul Simpson