Since Thirsty Merc entered the charts earlier this year with their catchy and clever Emancipate Myself single, the Sydney-based outfit has been building a solid fan-base around the country through regular touring. All in readiness for the release of their 13-track debut album, simply entitled THIRSTY MERC.
Even before Emancipate Myself officially introduced everyone to Thirsty Merc, there was another track most of us got to hear, Wasting Time (off their independent debut EP, First Work), another little gem, it too deservedly getting a regular spin on radio and TV.
Stirring stuff, especially if you're to believe Thirsty Merc as a band is only two-years-old. But there's much more shared experience within the realms of Thirsty Merc than that.
Thirsty Merc are actually the combination of two unique musical forces that married together not that long ago after separately gathering years of experience and knowledge.
On one side you've got Phil Stack (bass) and Karl Robertson (drums). These guys met each other in primary school in Dubbo, NSW. By the start of high school, they were playing in bands together. Within a few years, one of their early outfits, Drown, won the local final of Triple J's UnEarthed competition.
Fast-forward to a few years back and Phil Stack moves to Sydney. He meets a young singer/songwriter with the impressive name of Rai Thistlethwayte. Rai's more into jazz and R&B -- his music has already seen him travel the world. Phil likes jazz and R&B too, so the pair start performing together in their spare time.
It would take a couple more years before a collective light bulb goes off -- why doesn't everyone join forces to see what comes out? "We played our first gig a week after our first rehearsal," says Rai with a smile. "It was absolutely fast-trekked."
Karl: "It went surprisingly smoothly. We clicked straight away. We knew what was happening."
And like that, Thirsty Merc were suddenly out on the live circuit, sounding like they had been doing this together their whole lives. As we said, that was only two years ago. Guitarist Sean Carey was soon invited to round out Thirsty Merc. Sean first met the other guys at an early show. “I was playing with another band and Thirsty Merc were supporting us,” he remembers. “I’d never even heard of them before and they just wiped us off the stage. For me, Rai was the best songwriter I had seen around for ages.”
Thirsty Merc's chemistry and musical potency quickly attracted the attention of Warner Music Australia and a deal was signed. And here is the result. The debut album, THIRSTY MERC.
So what does Thirsty Merc sound like? According to Rai, Thirsty Merc songs fall into three basic groups. There are the straight-out rock/pop epics, rockers his dad likes to call the "big dance tunes", such as the album opener My Completeness and big-riffed Katie Q and Baby Tell Me. Then there are the heartfelt numbers, which include a couple of almighty ballads like the piano-based Hope and the lilting Everything But You.
And the third bunch are more smart-arsey than that. If you've heard Emancipate Myself, then you know what we mean. Those sorts of songs give a real Australiana feel to Thirsty Merc.
Beyond that, it's a bit hard to explain. Rai likes to describe part of what they do as "rock Sinatra".
"The outlook, I guess, is about being a young person in today's society," Rai says, by way of further explanation. "It's about being an Australian in an American-ised, Britain-ised kind of world, where you're trying to stay true to yourself, get by, get through your relationships, pay the parking fines on the side, and reassure your friends -- and have your friends reassure you -- that everything is going to be alright in the end."
Welcome to start of something special. This is Thirsty Merc and this is their debut album. We're sure everyone will soon be smiling and singing along to their imaginative, unique blend of rock. Enjoy THIRSTY MERC.
Source: http://www.theharbouragency.com/artistpage.asp?ID=277
