Mercury Rev - The Secret Migration

Mercury Rev is often compared to their stylistic brethren, The Flaming Lips, and for good reason. Singer Jonathan Donahue spent time as the Lips’ lead guitarist in the early 90’s. The bands also have producer Dave Fridmann in common (Fridmann was one of the founding fathers of Mercury Rev). However, if the Lips are the sci-fi loving darlings of the current psychedelic rock scene, Mercury Rev are their Tolkien treasuring comrades. Pastoral images abound on The Secret Migration and lush, ethereal soundcapes are fittingly married with tales of black forests, white horses and the changing of seasons. The best songs on Migration (“Across Yer Ocean, “Black Forest” and “My Love”) start simply and then evolve into a potion mixture of swirling, spinning guitars with just a hint of electronica that serve to carry both the song and the listener off to a fantasy land. Donahue’s airy vocals can become grating after a few songs, but on the record’s stronger material, his vocals aren’t the point. On the aforementioned tracks, he simply provides a narrative to enable Fridmann’s excellent production and the incredible rhythm section, which I found to be the collective unsung hero of the album, to take the songs to their mystical climaxes. Unfortunately, the lofty moments don’t last forever. Migration’s highlights are obscured by several tracks that are much muddier, and frankly a little confusing. “Vermillion” and “In the Wilderness,” for example, sound eerily like tripped-out imitations of Coldplay and seem inconsistent with the overall vibe being pursued. There is also a sense that the band only has one trick and the “too much of a good thing” principle kicks in about halfway through the record. The album’s two most interesting moments, “Moving On” and “Down Poured the Heavens” only last around ninety seconds, which seems to say something. These tracks piqued my curiosity and left me wanting to hear more, a phenomenon I did not experience throughout the majority of the record. To use a metaphor consistent with the themes of the album, had Mercury Rev worked on pruning the trees a bit more, The Secret Migration could have cemented a position for the band as a unique and exciting musical force. However, the forests seem overgrown, and they kept me from seeing the intended beauty of this record, which I found average at best. [www.mercuryrev.com]