ALBUM REVIEW: Mercy McCoy - Brighter in the Dark

Favorite local band Mercy McCoy is taking a big step in their young musical career tonight. The roots-rock group, led by Stefan Scheuermann, is releasing their first full length album, entitled Brighter in the Dark. 

Despite being the band's debut album, Mercy McCoy can already flaunt a pretty impressive resume. The 5-piece band has been featured as a 'Daily Discovery' in American Songwriter Magazine, and received a Top 5 finish in the 2015 Durango Sole Performer Competition. Most impressively, the band opened up for The Only Music Blog favorites Twenty One Pilots back in 2013. You may even remember their brief write up in this very blog just under two years ago, on the day of their EP release and eve of opening up for Bronze Radio Return. You can read that full review here.

This 10-track record by Mercy McCoy can best be summarized in the Americana genre, but I must admit that it hits multiple categories. Album opener 'Born to Try' is explosive and much more on the pop side. Early highlight 'Brighter in the Dark' is classic folk-rock. I even felt a bluegrass influence with the second track, 'Our Lies Came True,' reminding me most of Old Crow Medicine Show's 'Sweet Amarillo.'

Throughout the album, Scheuermann does a great job with the songwriting. The vibe is always upbeat, despite featuring some deeper lyrics. Scheurmann multiple times references uncertainty of the future, best displayed with 'Staying Young' and 'Fall in Line.' Overall though, the subject of the unknown next steps is trumped by pop hooks and the light hearted feel of young love.

The romance of the album is featured best on 'Be My Spark.' This folk number has strong visuals, correlating nicely to the title track and theme of the album - Brighter in the Dark.

The album's strongest track may be 'Spent On You,' which also claims the longest song at 5:49. This slow rolling chiller reminds me most of an old Wallflowers tune, with Scheuermann carrying the song on vocals. It also features a pleasant guitar interlude, very reminiscent of something Dawes would produce. For the record, Mercy McCoy has always reminded me of one of my favorites in Dawes. Any fan of this album should immediately give Dawes a listen as well.

In total, the 10 songs provided by Mercy McCoy give you a well rounded album showing off all the genres the band is capable of hitting. Mercy McCoy will host their album release party on Friday, November 20th at the intimate Hideaway Cafe in downtown St. Pete. The band is supported by members of Paint the Town Red and Boxcar Hollow. The show starts at 8pm.

ALBUM RATING: 3 Stars

Essential Tracks: 'Born To Try,' 'Brighter in the Dark,' 'Fall in Line,' 'Spent on You.'

CONCERT REVIEW: Frank Turner Live from The Fillmore

While in California a few weeks back, I ended up extending my trip and visited San Francisco to see the great Frank Turner. Frank is one of my absolute favorites. He's been no stranger to The Only Music Blog this year, receiving high praise for a Jacksonville gig earlier this year, and solid placement in the Shaky Knees Music Fest power rankings.

Frank was on a US tour supporting his newly released 6th studio album - Positive Songs for Negative People. The album is classic Frank, finding a pleasant combination between punk rock and acoustic folk. The theme of the album seems to be getting over a relationship, and keeping an optimistic outlook while recovering. It's very uplifting at times and is towards the top of the list for my favorite albums of the year.

Aside from Frank, one of the other reasons that brought me to this show was the venue. The Fillmore is a legendary room, almost always found at the top of lists for best indoor venues in the US. I was very impressed. The many chandeliers suspended from the ceiling gave the room an iconic look.

Prior to Frank taking the stage were two fellow British acts in 'Skinny Lister' and 'Beans on Toast.' Both were entertaining, and filled the void until Turner took the stage with his backing band 'The Sleeping Souls.' Frank opened with his lead single from the new album, appropriately titled 'Get Better.' This was just the start of a ferocious opening, that included 'If Ever I Stray,' 'Losing Days,' and 'Long Live the Queen' to get the crowd singing early.

One of the most impressive things about Turner is his speed and energy on stage. The guy barely ever takes a breath. He fit 29 songs into his two hour set at the Fillmore. I never once saw him take a drink of water, and his longest break between songs may have been 30 seconds tops. They guy is just an absolute machine, working the full size of the stage, and singing with great effort.

Frank's work ethic on stage correlates perfectly to his schedule in real life. I recently read his autobiography, entitled The Road Beneath My Feet. Turner keeps a very busy life on the road, constantly touring across the globe. This was Frank's third run of US dates in 2015, and that's a year in which he also released a new album. It's clear why he's received multiple awards dubbing him 'the hardest working man in music.'

While 'The Sleeping Souls' took a break midway through the set, Frank continued to play a couple songs acoustically. This included 'Time Machine' (performed on Back to the Future Day) and 'Sunshine State,' which was originally written for someone from the Bay Area. This is just one of the ways Frank always tries to connect to the local audience.

I thought the best action of the night was the closing section of the set, where Frank performed two of his strongest songs. 'Mittens' is off PSFNP and tells the sad story of never feeling like his relationship with a certain someone was quite right, citing that they fit like mittens rather than gloves. The emotion displayed by Turner in this tune is second to none. I also must give praise to Frank's personal anthem with 'I Still Believe.'



After a brief break, Turner encored with 'Song for Josh,' a quiet and personal number that Frank wrote for a friend of his that took his life last year. It's chilling to hear live, and really elevates Frank as a songwriter. This led to three more songs on the night, including fan favorite 'Love Ire and Song.'

In conclusion, I believe this was the best Frank Turner show I've seen to date. I think this guy is at his best right now, and fans acknowledge it. I'm always impressed with the crowd at Frank shows, going crazy at the appropriate times but always being respectful when needed. It was an epic night at an even more epic venue.

CONCERT RATING: 4 Stars



SETLIST:

1. Get Better
2. If Ever I Stray
3. Losing Days
4. Long Live the Queen
5. Out of Breath
6. Sons of Liberty
7. Peggy Sang the Blues
8. Josephine
9. Polaroid Picture
10. I Am Disappeared
11. The Opening Act of Spring

Frank Solo: 
12. The Ballad of Me and My Friends
13. Time Machine (First time live since 2012)
14. Sunshine State

Full Band:
15. The Way I Tend to Be
16. Photosynthesis
17. Plain Sailing Weather
18. Glory Hallelujah
19. Reasons Not to Be an Idiot
20. Mittens
21. Recovery
22. The Road
23. The Next Storm
24. I Still Believe
25. The Power of Love (Huey Lewis and the News cover)

ENCORE: 

26. Song for Josh
27. Love Ire and Song
28. Try This at Home
29. Four Simple Words

LIVE REVIEW: 'Bronze Radio Return' Back at Crowbar

Roots-rock group Bronze Radio Return recently made their return to Crowbar in Ybor. The six piece band first played the small club back in spring of 2013. You can read the full review here, which was one of the first written on The Only Music Blog. The 2013 show was not highly attended, but I enjoyed the rootsy sound of 'Bronze.'

The CT natives were back in support of a new album they have coming out, entitled 'Light Me Up.' (The full album was actually released just under one month ago) Unfortunately, these guys haven't found much more popularity in the two years between Tampa performances. The Crowbar crowd was small....so small in fact that tables and chairs had to be brought in to fill space on the depressingly sad floor. It was awkwardly quiet in between songs, not giving off the best impression.

Nevertheless though, the show had to go on. Lead singer Chris Henderson still tried to look comfortable and put on an enjoyable show. The good news is that the band actually sounded good. I believe they have improved over the past two years, and the sound quality at Crowbar was better than most I've seen in the past three years.

The band opened up with familiar favorites in 'Further On' and 'Mister Mister.' They did a good job throughout the evening of mixing older tunes with songs off the new album. The new material sounded much more on the pop side, especially for a rootsy group like Bronze. Look for the upcoming single to be 'Only Temporary.' It's an upbeat synth heavy single, reminiscent of a Maroon 5 tune. I think Henderson even sang like Adam Levine during it.




This new sound could bring new fans and popularity for the consistent band. It added some nice energy to the quick set. Overall, Bronze was done at Crowbar in just under an hour. They finished with best known tune in 'Shake Shake Shake,' sending the crowd home happy.

CONCERT RATING: 2.5 Stars

CONCERT REVIEW: Dr. Dog at the State Theatre

Philly based rock band Dr. Dog has been no stranger to The Only Music Blog this year. They received high praise early in 2015, winning 'Winter Concert Season' with their performance at the legendary 9:30 Club. You can read that review in full here, containing a fuzzy memory of meeting Toby at my first trip to Gasparilla Music Fest in 2013. The group also received placement in the Best Acts of Shaky Knees Music Fest, from this past May.

Given their track record for putting on a great show, it was a no brainer to check them out at State Theatre in late September. It was the bands first gig in Florida since opening up for The Lumineers over two years ago, and they filled State to near capacity for their Monday night gig. I will say some of the crowd waited a bit later then they would have liked that night, as Dr. dog didn't hit the stage until 10:15pm.

The 'Toby' character referenced above is Toby Leaman, one of the lead singers of Dr. Dog. Leamon splits time on vocals with childhood best friend Scott McKicken. The pair share the vocal abilities, and harmonize on several tunes, giving the band a more unique feel than your standard rock band.

I thought the group came out very strong, with a plethora of fan favorites to open the show. This included 'These Days,' 'How Long Must I Wait' and 'The Old Black Hole.' All seemed to evoke an ovation louder than the previous one, before the group settled into their set. Fans were in a for a long night.

After a solid 90 minute set, Dr. Dog departed the stage for a quick break. They they encored with 'Be the Void,' getting the crowd jumping for what seemed like their final song. This however, was just the beginning of a long encore. The guys announced that they had reached the point of the night where they played every tune on the setlist, but would play a few more given it was their first time in many years back in Florida. They then took suggestions from fans shouting out song names. It was a cool moment to reward the fans with a longer set than usual.

In total, the Philly jam band performed nearly 20 songs over a full two hours. It was a late Monday night, but well worth it. These guys know how to get the crowd going and I thought their sound was the best of any of their shows I've seen this year. I'll still give the nod though to their 9:30 Club show for the overall experience.

Dr. Dog is a solid group and I'll be on the look for them again. They just announced a large headlining tour for early 2016. The only Florida stop will be an appearance at the much anticipated Okeechobee Music Fest in March.

CONCERT RATING: 3.5 Stars