Mercedes Diett-Krendel is Mercy who, until assembling the current live line-up of Sunil Tailor (guitars), Annie Kalbag (bass guitar), and Holly Mallett (drums), performed as a solo artist around the likes of London’s Club 229 and 100, and The Finsbury and Proud in Camden.
Coming straight onto the scene with a full length album, Mercy has delivered eight tracks through a five year recording and production span. Descriptions include No Doubt and Courtney (Hole) Love in the band’s press and other cut-and-paste reviews and I definitely picked up a Butch Vig / Billy Corgan-influenced 1990s grrl-punk sound from the short clips available to me for this piece (the links I was sent have since expired and only 30sec grabs are available online at the time of writing).
As a bass player I was criticised both early and late in my career for playing one string at a time (by someone who didn’t know better) and just playing the root-note of the main chords (by someone who claimed to know better). My criticism here of Annie’s work on this album, from the clips I was able to access from the official website and the YouTube teasers is that she just “strums” the root-note of the chord. Some colour wouldn’t go amiss, although we know it’s “only” punk (and this from someone who was looking for harmonies in pub-rock music). And of Mercy and Sunil, with guitars I would kill to be even in the same room as, that could be used a great deal better! OK we’re not Steve Jones and Glenn Matlock but we’re not Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore either. Holly’s work, though, is as solid AF and keeps the whole show pumping!
Not my favourite outing of this year but one for a panning either. I’ll be interested to see what 2021 brings for Mercy and (either this band or another) entourage through the new label.