St. Vincent Strange Mercy Album Review

 

I HATED this album..

... at first.
For those of you who loved this upon first listen through, I applaud either your ability to be a self-righteous music snob who knows that they SHOULD like something or your open-mindedness. You know... one or the other. For me, this album was a lot like the first few listens to PJ Harvey's early 2011 release 'Let England Shake.'
Ok, I admit it, I was one of those self-righteous music snobs who knew they should like Let England Shake; so, I listened to it over and over until I fell in love. And then PJ Harvey's shaky warbling dominated my earbuds for months. I have a sneaking suspicion that's precisely what's about to happen with St. Vincent's Strange Mercy.
During a trip up to Portsmouth, NH during morning rush hour from Cambridge, I was falling back into my old routine. I had been sent up by my boss to check some water levels in monitor wells. It's about as interesting as it sounds... Anyways, I turned on shuffle because I was feeling indecisive and I decided to let the shuffle God giveth and taketh. However, I got irrationally angry and myself for not being able to choose something and told myself 'You just added several new artists to your IPod. Why not give one of them a chance!?'
So, somehow, I ended up on St. Vincent. I knew I sort of liked Surgeon. Maybe, that's why I started off by clicking 'Chloe in the Afternoon.' (And, almost smashing in a guy on a motorcycle in a prison orange, sleeveless vest who passed me exclaiming "I got your license plate number, punk! I'll see you at your house TONIGHT!"... Great, now I'll have to make dinner for a guest.)
Anyways, Chloe in the Afternoon interested me. It was different. I was in a different mood. I was in a listening mood. Go ahead and persuade me, I thought. 'Cruel' was just too catchy to skip over. After 10 seconds of the song I was already humming along and trying to sing lyrics I didn't know. Cheerleader came on and I was impressed. It's lyrics are a little cheesy, but I think she knows that and decides to use them anyways. It works. This time through 'Surgeon' rocked my socks. At the climax and breakdown throughout the end, I was rocking out buddy-movie style up Rte 95 North into NH. And so it continued, through its oddly placed combinations of indie buzziness and old school melodic bits and Annie Clarks sort of ethereal voice.

Music is subjective. Some people like Nickelback. So, I guess take this review with a grain of salt. But, to rate this album, I'll give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Enjoy!