Mercury Rev
This six-piece band from Buffalo, New York, USA, burst on to the music scene in 1991 to unanimous critical acclaim for their enterprising mix of Pink Floydand Dinosaur Jnr. dynamics. However, the sounds produced by Jonathan Donahue (vocals/guitar), David Fridmann (bass), Jimmy Chambers (drums), Sean Grasshopper Mackowiak (guitar), Suzanne Thorpe (flute) and David Baker (vocals/guitar) remain difficult to classify. Their album, YERSELF IS STEAM, although practically ignored in their native country, created a snowball of press acclaim in the UK which had not been accorded to a debut since the Jesus And Mary Chain's PSYCHOCANDY. The Melody Maker's comment ‘Universally acclaimed by UK critics as the draughtsmen behind the first, and so far only, great rock long player of 1991’, was among the more conservative of the plaudits, and with only a handful of gigs under their belt Mercury Rev was to be seen filling support slots for My Bloody Valentine and Bob Dylan. BBC disc jockey John Peelsummed up their appeal by stating that: ‘Unlike many bands, you can't tell what's in their record collection’. The press undoubtedly saw them as the next step forward from the previous wave of influential US guitar bands like the Pixies, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jnr. However, whether they can capitalize on their flying start would seem to rest, rather precariously, on their ability to remain together as a collective unit. A variety of stories have filtered through concerning their self-destructive behaviour. The band has already been banned from one airline due to Donahue trying to remove Mackowiak's eye with a spoon. Another minor crisis concerned Fridmann's disposal of the band's entire advance for their Carwash Hair single on a holiday for his mother in Bermuda, without telling anyone. The band's writing and recording is done in a similar, reckless manner: ‘Basically, its whoever shouts loudest, or who has the biggest punch’. However, this cavalier approach finally took its toll in early 1994, when David Baker was ejected/left the band. His departure hardly came as a surprise, considering that the band had been undergoing group therapy and travelling in separate vehicles on their recent tours.