Mercury Rev - Boces

I came to this as a pampered "Deserter's Songs"-era fan delving backwards into their murky past, expecting something firmly different. It was pretty much as I expected. But once you penetrate its veneer of bonkers experimentalism, you find some tightly-written songs and genuinely good tunes.

By most standards David Baker, Jonathan Donahue's predecessor, can't sing. His casual declamations of apparent nonsense, along with their acidic noise-rock guitars and kitchen-sink-in-a-stew-pot instrumental arranging, all contribute to the crazy avant-garde image of early Rev. But "Meth of a Rockette's Kick" is basically a focused, head-to-the-floor tune with a fat driving chorus. Its ten minutes eventually includes a bit of whirling trumpet and piano wig-out over Stereolab-ish repetitive backing vocals, before restoring focus with a juicy closing chord, as decisively final as I have ever heard.

Then on "Trickle Down" you start to think they've lost it, as Baker goes off on a disjointed stream-of-consciousness ramble. But again it's only bonkers on the surface, and the great yowling chorus manages to hold it together. Less of a shock is some Pixies-grade alt-rock on "Bronx Cheer". "Boys Peel Out" has plenty of experimental prettiness, bells and piano but a weaker tune. Paradoxically, one of their most powerful moments is when they make less noise, on "Downs are Feminine Balloons". This is a lovely piece of shoegazing downbeat surrounded by spaced-out hissing cymbals (a la Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun") and hippyish flute tootles. That's also the kind of song title you expect from the Cocteau Twins.

The second half has slightly less bite. "Snorry Mouth" redeems its oddly repulsive title with a nice sneering hook, but its jamming isn't worth the ten minutes of run time. Even those looking for something like "Deserters Songs" won't go home completely empty handed. The pulsing fiddle and guitar jam on "Hi Speed Boats" is pretty close to the jams from "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp" or "Hercules". Saved for the end is the album's most bizarre piece "Girlfren", where Baker mews and quivers like a drunken Billie Holliday over a gloopy underwater-sounding piano.

Not for everyone, but this brain-bending mix of left-field invention may well eventually convince you that it makes sense.

June 2, 2005

7 out of 10

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