The first track I manage to catch of Mercury's set is decent grunge rock in the vein of The Screaming Trees. I could hear their opening track whilst I was still downstairs and it sounded more Jawbreaker-esque. The guitarist's vocals seem a bit directionless and lacking in character. They just meander, and sometimes so does the music. It's quite slow paced and, like The Screaming Trees, there's times when it's quite hypnotic. At other times, it's a bit boring. One track adds a bit of '90s hardcore chug to the proceedings. At their heaviest, they are reminiscent of Alice In Chains, particularly with the dual vocal parts. There are quite a few 'Badmotorfinger' influences too. Unfortunately, the songs are rarely satisfying on the whole. There seems to be some dreary parts followed by some nice chunky riffs before going back into a dreary part, and so on. The individual parts don't flow well from one part to another either.
Teenage Wrist open with 'Sunshine'. It has such a great post-hardcore riff which is topped off with a melodic chorus. It really shows their strengths, mixing the best of post-hardcore, grunge and alt rock. Marshall Gallagher has a classic emo voice and this adds the more melodic elements to their sound. They are definitely a heavier proposition live than they are on record and every song has a real groove. The fantastic 'Stoned, Alone' has an amazing Quicksand post-hardcore groove which is married to dreamy shoegaze vocals. 'Diorama' has a Soundgarden ballad quality about it. The terrific 'High Again' mixes a dreamy shoegaze verse with a powerful post-hardcore chorus. I take a look around and see most of the room rocking back and forth in unison which is great to see. It's good to see that I'm not the only one who is locked into the rhythm. 'Cold Case' has a low slung Monster Magnet 'Space Lord' gone shoegaze feel and it features some excellent lead guitar work. Their dreamy heaviness reaches a transcendental peak on 'Sparkle/Fade'. Penultimate track 'Earth Is A Black Hole' gets the crowd moving with its terrific anthemic chorus. Excellent.
Teenage Wrist ****
Mercury ***
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