Mercury Switch - If You Love Me, You'd Take Me To The City

I’m not really a fan of metal, but if I were, I would enjoy those bands that were humorous in intent and diverse in execution. With the enormously dramatic vocals and simple (but fast) instrumentation that makes up the nucleus of the metal genre, comedic lyrics and a varied tempo would balance out the ‘as-dark-as-we-can-be’ sound. Mercury Switch excels in both and pleases the metal fanatics and curious newcomers, as well as those that just want to listen to something clever. Many of the song’s intentions would become annoyingly ambiguous (they can’t be serious when they say that, can they?) had they not been framed with well-timed intros and outros. Several movie samples, one from Princess Bride and one from Goonies serve to establish an oddly entertaining sense of humor and relieve the intensity of the shrill vocals and double bass drumming. The lyrics, “Welcome to this city, the land of the beautiful dead/ Get out alive if you can” aren’t nearly as amusing without the over-the-top bad-ass motorcycle revving that opens and closes the song. In case the 80's family movie samples, silly automotive engines, and over-the-top vocals don’t prove Mercury Switch’s spot-on triviality, they also cover The Smashing Pumpkin’s “Tonight Tonight” for no apparent reason (a terribly delightful cover). While it’s true that various, and seemingly random, pieces are thrown together to form the entirety of the album, the transitions are fluent and there is enough solid metal tunes to warrant the attention of that audience. The beauty of the album is that in addition to the assumed material, so much extra instrumentation and bizarre tangents are present that it becomes a far greater and much more interesting listen; the campy, but not outright comedy, moments add a much needed ingredient. All of you impulse buyers, please be forewarned; while I am giving this album high-marks it certainly won’t be enjoyed by everyone. If you can stomach the intense screaming and fast paced metal, I recommend you give this a listen. [www.mercury-switch.com]