Link: Merit
The Inside Pulse:
For a tiny little band on a tiny little indie label, one wouldn’t expect much from Merit. Straight out of New York, this alterna-rock quartet embodies the aesthetic of the area’s music scene: the emo punk indie look, the emo punk indie feel. However, the music breaks out of this slavishly generic clump with the vocals of Brenna Merritt, a chick with a brilliantly emotive set of pipes, truly bringing the group to life. That’s not to discount the remaining musicianship, as it’s at least on par with what’s popular among the indie set these days. It’s certainly less pretentions, far brighter in spirit, and feels like much more fun than their shoegazing counterparts. What sticks them in indieland instead of getting them signed? Well, the songs tend to fall into one of three formulaic patterns, and that does get tedious.
Positives:
“Useless” waltzes along most interestingly while “40-16” shows the band’s strength in straight-ahead rock. The best track by far is “F.U.D.R,” which has such a strong stick-in-the-head power that it will almost drive you insane.
Negatives:
There’s more to songs than just “the slow one,” “the punky one,” and “the rock one with the slower break.” The bonus is that it might take a good several listens before one notices the pattern.
Cross-breed:
(stolen from the Village Voice, because once I read it, I couldn’t get the perfect match out of my head) Concrete Blonde and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Reason to buy:
Indie rock fan, looking for something new and interesting? It’s a good investment.
