"She ran away when the beat of her heart / Started pumpin’ up blood through her coldest parts / Then her love disappeared overnight / When I think about us, never felt right..."
The crystalline power pop dreaminess / Merseybeat adulations of "Mercy, Kill Me" by Pansy, the alter ego of super journalist, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Vivian McCall and cohorts, is so incredibly magnetic and earwormy in the best of ways. Upon first listen I thought of an interation birthed from 60's Brit pop, 80's indie, 2000's garage rock and current retro power pop blends adjacent to bands like The La's, Shonen Knife, Teenage Fanclub, Tchotchke, The Byrds, Shack or maybe an amalgam of all those kinds of influences, musical hybrids. Whatever this is, it is absolutely gorgeous and somehow one of those freewheeling songs that feel like forever song, Maybe it is that beautiful beat, the guitar shapes with hooky fingering breaks, the fanning eruptions and sonic explosions (love the drumming) but I think mostly it is McCall's vocal melodies and soaring vocal countenance that feels somehow comforting as those poetic words tumble out in just the perfect way. A feeling of liberation, relief and blossoming into your own self with out naysayers. Wow.
"She ran away when the beat of her heart
[Channeling the melodic punch of Big Star, Gin Blossoms, and Teenage Fanclub, “Mercy Kill Me” flares with Vivian’s vibrant, expressive guitar work and a flower power sensibility that’s resonating with today’s underground rockers and punk expats.]
Started pumpin’ up blood through her coldest parts
Then her love disappeared overnight
When I think about us, never felt right
She crawls on me in the dark
Kissin’ my hips, cuttin’ my heart
I sweat right through my sheets
Now that she’s gone, she can do as she please
Sold my possessions, got a new car
Cut my hair and drove real far
Felt the miles tight like a wire
Snap in the wind of a waning fire
Bang bang goes the funeral tire
Swam in a cloud, right on by her
I stood in the shadow of two
Now that she’s gone, that lake’s clear blue"
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[“Mercy, Kill Me,” is a noisy power pop anthem about a catastrophic breakup that demanded reinvention—hair cutting, yard sales, and a move across the country for a complete reset.
[Channeling the melodic punch of Big Star, Gin Blossoms, and Teenage Fanclub, “Mercy Kill Me” flares with Vivian’s vibrant, expressive guitar work and a flower power sensibility that’s resonating with today’s underground rockers and punk expats.]
[More than three years ago, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Vivian McCall, of the band Jungle Green, began transitioning, a process which inspired the songs that make up her self-titled debut album as Pansy--a record that proves that every moment on the journey carries an incredible depth and complexity of emotion. The album was recorded to tape on vintage equipment in Chicago, Illinois.]
[The single’s warm, jangling sound is a natural bridge from her self-titled debut Pansy, a lo-fi rock documentation of her life before, during and after coming out as trans. As writers have noted in Paste Magazine, The Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune, Riot Fest and elsewhere, Vivian has a talent for expressing complex experiences with undeniable, clear hooks. Though coursing with bittersweet sentiment, the momentum of “Mercy, Kill Me,” pulls it toward a hopeful future.]
[The single’s warm, jangling sound is a natural bridge from her self-titled debut Pansy, a lo-fi rock documentation of her life before, during and after coming out as trans. As writers have noted in Paste Magazine, The Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune, Riot Fest and elsewhere, Vivian has a talent for expressing complex experiences with undeniable, clear hooks. Though coursing with bittersweet sentiment, the momentum of “Mercy, Kill Me,” pulls it toward a hopeful future.]
-Robb Donker Curtius
The Chicken Wheel will take you to the AP Go Fund Me- and any amount is so appreciated!
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://soundcloud.com/martha-vivian-mccall-772935776
https://www.instagram.com/criminalmeme
https://x.com/vivmccall
More than three years ago, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Vivian McCall, of the band Jungle Green, began transitioning, a process which inspired the songs that make up her self-titled debut album as Pansy--a record that proves that every moment on the journey carries an incredible depth and complexity of emotion. The album was recorded to tape on vintage equipment in Chicago, Illinois.
Pansy , journalist, singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, Vivian McCall, magnetic sound, life affirming sound, New album "Pansy", debut single "Mercy, Kill Me", power pop, 60's jangle pop, art punk, post punk, retro rock,
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