Mercury Rev "Yerself Is Steam" 1991***

My first contact with Mercury Rev was the melodic "Deserter's Songs", a 1998 album with allusions to rock's rich past, be it Neil Young, The Beatles or Pink Floyd. At their best, Mercury Rev made Classic Rock - as in Rock that would become classic, not as in Rock emulating former greats. This 1991 debut is quite different, though with hindsight one can see the first stages of an evolutionary course that would take them to "Deserter's Songs". At this stage, MR are an alternative band, which translates as... deliberately difficult. The sublime melodies are buried underneath layers of feedback and noise, taking their cue from bands like Sonic Youth or My Bloody Valentine. On the other hand, their use of flute is quite novel for this short of music - I suspect if we removed the electric guitar we'd end up with a folk psych record of pastoral beauty. "Chasing a Bee" starts off with a bit of freak folk a la Devendra Banhart until the guitars kick in. The flute melody and backing vocals are also very charming, when audible. The overall sound reminds me of Flaming Lips of the same period - not coincidentally, since the two bands evolved simultaneously and in similar ways, and even shared bandmembers for a while. "Syringe Mouth" is a brutal guitar attack of the Sonic Youth school. "Coney Island Cyclone" is a strong composition with a melodic core - if you mentally replace the wall of feedback with an orchestra, it sounds like what they did a decade later. "Blue And Black" is an atmospheric track in slow tempo, featuring piano and sinister vocals. "Sweet Oddysee of a Cancer Cell t' th' Center of Yer Heart" is a psychedelic instrumental with the drums on the fore. It somehow reminded me of Pink Floyd circa "Live in Pompei" - not to mention that the title is worthy of Ummagumma. "Frittering" is a long song that starts off as a ballad with acoustic guitar but is swept away by waves of distortion. After a short intermission with the long name "Continuous Trucks and Thunder Under a Mother's Smile", the album closes with a 12-minute long experimental piece with a repetitive melody. It's called "Very Sleepy Rivers" - with some justification. In one phrase, "Yerself Is Steam" is the work of a talented band smugly sabotaging itself in order to sound elaborate and elitist. And yet the discerning listener will still find a lot to like.

**** for Chasing a Bee

*** for Syringe Mouth, Coney Island Cyclone, Sweet Oddysee of a Cancer Cell t' th' Center of Yer Heart, Frittering, Very Sleepy Rivers

** for Blue and Black, Continuous Trucks and Thunder Under a Mother's Smile