Mark this down. This is the comeback record of the year for me. Planes Mistaken for Stars dropped the ball with Up in Them Guts right when they seemed poised to take the indie scene by storm. It was so lackluster for me that I did not have especially high hopes for this new record. With Matt Bellinger jumping ship for the country tinged Ghost Buffalo, I was wholly unsure what to expect with former bass player Chuck French moving to guitar. Well, I put in Mercy after purchasing it from my local record store and was immediately floored. With that, I extend the olive branch to the Planes boys and ask for forgiveness for doubting them. Mercy is a rip-roaring, passionate, and moody rock and roll thrill ride.
The scorching riffing of "One Fucked Pony" gets one intimately acquainted with the emotional bloodletting that this record sounds like. The lyrics relay the dirty, fuzzed-out image that the sound of the song portrays: "Here lies pestilence feeding on the flesh of our discontentââ¬Â¦We tried so hard to bring beauty to light, we left unkempt the bitterness we hide/ We are all set to fall/ Let us sing one last timeââ¬Â¦" The lyrics and the manic energy of the song give the feeling that Planes Mistaken for Stars are really going for broke. It is awesome. As this song fades into the clicking rhythm of "Crooked Mile", the boys intone, "We beat west (It beat us back)." It sounds like a fighting song before the moodiness of the track kicks into gear. Gared O'Donnell's vocals sound great when this part comes into the aural focus. The lyrics at the end are great.
So let us drink to the dreams, and the dreamers long dead and gone between us/ Line up a shot for every fight we've fought and lost, and let us pray that its slow / We tip to the measuring line, to be fit for a box of pine.
"Widow: A Love Song" brings back the noisy rock to follow up the moody come down of the previous song. As its speed slows the intensity slowly picks up to reach a fever pitch. It is an excellent use of dynamics that serves as an excellent contrast with the restraint that shows in "Keep Your Teeth". A decidedly slower track, "Keep Your Teeth" serves as a sonic rock bottom for the album (not in quality, but in effect). Its desperate mood is poignant and effective. "To Spit a Sparrow" grooves its way in a grimy, sleazy plod. It weaves its way through powerful accents and prolonged bursts of noisy bombast. The lyrics evoke similar imagery: "Rather a bastard than a snake, you've left a slick in your wake." The mood presented is something akin to grim resignation. It is so good and is, quite possibly, my favorite song on the record.
Planes Mistaken for Stars keeps the intensity going straight through to "Little Death", which combines the restrained moodiness of early tracks with the noisiness of other tracks on the album. "Mercy" is the type of song that starts of slow and you expect it to explode. The trick is that the band holds back from that explosion and holds that emotional tension for the duration of the track. It is a nice twist on that sometimes over used formula. "Penitence" is an excellent closer. Yes, it is acoustic. No, it is not a ballad. It is a remorseful sounding song that is almost weighed down by the guilty feeling of the song, but it is not bogged down. Rather, it goes down like a bitter pill.
Mercy is good, real good. As I said, it is the comeback album of the year. It runs a wide variety of emotional moods while keeping the music interesting and down right enthralling at times. I honestly can't say the last time I enjoyed a Planes record this much, maybe Spearheading the Sin Movement. If you enjoyed anything that Planes Mistaken for Stars has ever done, I am almost certain that you would enjoy this one.
