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Originally comprised of vocalist David Baker, vocalist/guitarist Jonathan Donahue, guitarist/clarinetist Sean Mackowiak, flutist Suzanne Thorpe, bassist Dave Fridmann, and drummer Jimy Chambers, the group's lineup experienced personal conflicts from the get-go. Initially formed as a vehicle for creating the soundtracks to their experimental student films, the band’s members infrequently communicated with each until signing with Rough Trade Records. Whilst working as a concert promoter Donahue put a Mercury Rev show on with support from Oklahoma’s Flaming Lips and along with Fridmann became long-term collaborators with the group.
In 1991 Mercury Rev issued their debut full-length album “Yerself Is Steam” to widespread critical acclaim. Led by the epic experimental tracks “Chasing a Bee”, “Coney Island Cyclone”, and “Frittering”, the album lacked promotion and distribution due to U.S. Rough Trade filling for bankruptcy shortly after the release. Despite this the record earned the band a significant cult following and was supported by a tumultuous UK tour that ended with Donahue attempting to gouge out Mackowiak’s eye with a spoon. The group’s second critically acclaimed album “BOCES” arrived in 1993 following which Mercury Rev were kicked off the year’s Lollapalooza tour for making too much noise, and lead vocalist Baker was kicked out the band.
Taking leave of Baker’s darker and more experimental excursions, Mercury Rev’s third full-length, 1995’s “See You on the Other Side”, proved their most emotionally compelling to date. The same year the band issued the album “Paralyzed Mind of the Archangel”, before making their debut on the UK Albums Chart with the full-length “Deserter’s Songs” in 1998. Mercury Rev’s subsequent album “All Is Dream” arrived in 2011, rose to No. 11 on the UK Albums Chart, and landed on a number of the year’s best-of lists. The albums “The Secret Migration” and “Snowflake Midnight” appeared in 2005 and 2008, respectively, followed by “The Light in You” in September 2015.
Mercury Rev have been pushing the boundaries of sonic discovery since Sean ‘Grasshopper’ Mackowiak and David ‘Shady’ Baker got together in the late 1980s to try and make some cosmic American music. Partly successful until Baker’s behaviour saw him having to leave the band, he was replaced by Jonathan Donahue and it was at this point that Mercury Rev became the glorious band they remain today. 1998 saw them release the seminal Deserter’s Songs, a tribute to America’s rich musical history (signalled by the guest spots of two members of The Band) while also being a record of spacey, dreamy ambition that they’ve yet to match. These days, the band (the studio version of which includes legendary producer Dave Fridmann) tend to perform Deserter’s Songs in full when performing live – and when you witness this spectacle live you can understand why. As Grasshopper performs stunning fireworks with the guitar, the shamanic presence of Donahue beguiles you with the childlike wonder in his high, reedy vocal. To experience "Holes," the modern classic "Godess on a Hiway" and the blues thud of "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp" is to be in the presence of greatness. Although new songs are few and far between these days, it never feels like you’re missing out on new Mercury Rev material as these tracks sound as fresh as they did over fifteen years ago.
AndyHannah
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