Name: For Mercy - (1993) Sticks and Stones (FLAC)(cassette)
Genre: Alternative
Year: 1993
Format: FLAC
Size: 249MB
Label: none
Tracklist:
01 - Poet's & Thieves
02 - Killing Time
03 - Scars
04 - John Henry
05 - Morning Glory
06 - The Ones Not Written
07 - Your Lips Are Moving
08 - Beside Myself
Around 1995, an old friend introduced me to For Mercy by attending a gig together. I saw them about 5 times and bought the excellent Perfect Circles CD at a gig. This friend had Sticks and Stones on an unknown format, which I copied.
Recording was on an Onkyo Integra TA-2056 (3 head deck in Dolby C). The Integra suffered a bitrot death of its microcontroller, thus playback was done in a newer Onkyo TA-201 (mid range deck). Best sound was found with no Dolby and azimuth tweaked for best high end and balance.
The Band Box review (1994?):
The five twentysomethings who make up the band For Mercy were merely weekend warriors in the music business after each snagged a sheepskin from Penn State University. After dipping their toes into the nasty waters of the real world, they regrouped, deciding the the nice noise they made together in a college band was worth continuing.
"After school we had jobs as engineers and teachers and architects," says singer Melissa Christopher, who married main songwriter and guitarist Todd Christopher in February. "Everyone was traveling long distances to get to this small cramped garage in Hershey, PA, to rehearse, and we decided to move down to Washington."
The promise of a musical future seems to be coming true for the group, as it plays the Birchmere Friday, where it will be selling its first CD, "Perfect Circles." The music is not what you might expect to hear at the Birchmere, says Todd Christopher. "Our stuff makes nods toward acoustic sit-down-and-listen music, but as far as putting our material info a broad category, we'd fall more into the progressive rock side of things."
The Christophers are joined by singer Kirsten Staats, bassist Bruno Deaven and drummer Greg Herring. "The songs rely on Kirsten and Melissa's vocals," says Todd. "We really like to emphasize their harmonies. What you're not going to hear is a zillion drum solos and flashy bass licks. We're definitely a band that puts the song ahead of any technical virtuosity."
-Eric Brace
