There’s no denying the musical lineage of “Mercury Transit”. The melodic style and chiming guitars go all the way back to the Merseybeat scene of the early sixties and the songs have more than their fair share of the sus4 and sus2 chords that characterise that particular era. Taylor Young certainly isn’t the first and probably won’t be the last to be influenced by this purple patch in British pop history; the thread runs through the work of The Byrds, Alex Chilton, Flaming Groovies, Tom Petty, The Pretenders, The La’s and Teenage Fanclub and probably many more. Taylor’s in pretty good company there.
It looks like a step change from Taylor Young’s previous incarnations as drummer in the psychedelic band Hi-Fi Drowning and singer in folk-rock duo, The O’s but, in reality, it’s more of a combination of the two sets of influences with the addition of great harmonies and melodic bass lines to create a new style of twenty-first century power pop. You won’t find any penetrating political insights here, but you will find ten uplifting country-inflected pop songs built around traditional pop themes – love, loss, and drinking, of course.
The album starts with a statement of intent. “Get Around” opens with a La’s-style jangly guitar intro and packs a West Coast punch that doesn’t overstay its welcome at two minutes twenty. A bit like Thin Lizzy’s “Don’t Believe a Word”; if you can pack everything into that time, why add any unnecessary embellishments. The following song, “Make You Wanna Stay” goes right back to the Merseybeat roots of jangle with a melodic bass line, nods to the Fab Four and a slightly hurried vocal delivery that’s typical of sixties UK pop.
Most songs on the album seem to be a hat-tip in the direction of a follower of the jangle-pop style. The optimistic “Five Cents” has a strong feel of James Honeyman Scott-era Pretenders, while “Rattled”, after a synth intro, is pure Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The album’s closing song “Drinkin’” bucks the trend slightly by sticking to a more country style while Taylor’s voice is pitched slightly lower as he tells the familiar tale of the drinker blaming everyone else for his woes while slipping in a reference to Garth Brooks as well.
This album has unashamedly retro influences while sounding very contemporary. If you’re going to wear your influences on your sleeve, the ones mentioned above are a pretty good set. If this album doesn’t make you feel good, I’ll eat my chapeau.
“Mercury Transit” is out now on Hand Drawn Records.
Here’s the video for “Rattled”:
Don’t you just love it when the opening song of an album kicks down the doors and bursts in without even wiping its feet? That’s exactly what “The Hammer and The Heart” does. “Work Hard, Love Harder” is a joyous, uplifting power pop anthem with chiming Byrds/Flaming Groovies guitars and a perfectly simple message; we need more love. You only need to hear it once and you’ll be playing it back mentally for months afterwards. It only needs one tastemaker at Radio Two to get behind this one and millions of people will be singing along; trust me. But I wouldn’t want you to think that “Work Hard…” is the only great song on this album.
Actually, the term ‘album’ doesn’t really do it justice; the press release describes it as a double album, but it’s really two distinct albums, one uptempo and mainly electric, the other mainly acoustic and with a more contemplative feel. “Work Hard…” opens both albums, with backing from The Bottle Rockets on album one and a string band version backed by The Boxcar Lilies (such a great name) on album two and the two versions highlight the importance of the song to Susan Cattaneo and its place as a pivot for both albums.
Across the eighteen songs you won’t find even an average one; they’re all superbly crafted and majestically realised and it’s difficult to pick out highlights, but let’s give it a go anyway. “In The Grooves” is a rockabilly stomper looking back to the golden era of the vinyl 45 (complete with Scotty Moore-style guitar solo), while “When Love Goes Right” is a gorgeous duet with Bill Kirchen turning the cliché of young love upside down and telling the story of lasting love. On the folkier second album, you can clearly hear the influence of Joni Mitchell and there are explorations of political and environmental themes in “Eveybody Cryin’ Mercy” and “Field of Stone”. And there’s even a gently-paced Bowie cover (“Space Oddity”) with lovely vocal harmonies to close the second album.
If you want eighteen classy songs played by some superb musicians, you’ve come to the right place; “The Hammer and the Heart” is an unmissable collection. And how about finishing with a lyric from the album’s anthem: ‘The heart beats louder than the dollar, shines a light in a world gone darker, draws joy in permanent marker’. That’s the message for you; “Work Hard, Love Harder”.
“The Hammer and the Heart” is released on Friday August 25 2017 on Jersey Girl Records.
