‘Blinding Blues, Stinging Bees’
Mercuryhat

Mercuryhat’s latest album, which the band celebrated with a release show at Biddy Mulligan’s in Dover on Nov. 21, was almost two years in the making. Formed in 2001 and based in Portsmouth, the band first headed into Thundering Sky Studios in South Berwick, Maine, in November 2006. The disc that emerged two years later is an emotionally charged collection of potent pop-rock songs.

Stylistically, the album echoes many of front man Eric Ott’s 1980s influences, including, most prevalently, R.E.M. and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Ott’s voice even sounds like a cross between Petty and Michael Stipe, and each of the album’s 10 songs demonstrate a sophisticated brand of Americana-rock. 

Lyrically, the album traces many of the misfortunes Ott has swallowed in recent years, including the untimely loss of his brother and a painful divorce from his wife of 15 years. The emotional pain comes across on many tracks, although the musical tone remains lively and far from depressing.

“Walkin’ through a crowded street, but you feel so alone, but you feel so alone,” Ott sings in “Life In A Day.” But an upbeat drum line and peppy guitar chords betray the morose words, as if Ott is attempting to anesthetize his pain with uplifting music. The song ends abruptly, however, with the line, “You say you want to be alive, as you hang your head to die.” 

Ott’s band mates include Chris Shaw on bass, Steve Wilt on electric guitar and Christian Berling on drums. All the songs were written by Ott and Shaw and arranged by the entire band. The CD also features guest performances by Mark Edgerly, Chris Magruder and Josh Pryor on acoustic guitars.

Mercuryhat will perform at the Elysium Arts Folk Club in Rollinsford on Jan. 9. Visit www.mercuryhat.net or www.myspace.com/mercuryhat.

‘The Divorced’
The Divorced

Fans of The Divorced have been eagerly awaiting this debut disc for some time. Formed in Newburyport in 2004, the group has gone through a continual stream of personnel changes and relocated to South Boston, garnering a strong reputation for its energetic live shows along the way. The band released its self-titled album with a show at Bourbon’s in Portsmouth on Nov. 28, introducing fans to the heartfelt indie folk-rock songs that encompass its first full-length recording effort.

Anchored around founding member John Ryan Gallagher’s distinctive singing and songwriting, “The Divorced” is certain to please fans of new generation Seacoast folk. The influence of other area genre staples and friends like Jason Anderson, Guy Capecelatro III and Dan Blakeslee is easily felt. 

Gallagher endows his voice with a seemingly forced raspiness that sounds better live than on disc. But skillful songwriting and instrumental work compensate for the sometimes irritating vocals, making for a set of eight original songs that grow more appealing with each repeated listen.

The second track, “Live to Hurt,” is a clear highlight, with strong vocal harmony in the anguished but tranquil refrain of “I’m on fire.” The band expresses pride in its new headquarters in the following song, “South Boston,” revealing the city’s pervasive gloom and pedestrian comforts. “When you get to the bar at the end of the day, don’t you feel like letting go?” Gallagher sings.

The disc also features Scott Chasse on guitar, Matthew Kulik on drums, Juliet Nelson on cello and Evan Orfanos on bass. Gallagher wrote all the songs and Chasse recorded and produced the album at The Distillery in South Boston. Allysen Callery and Kim Lamothe pitch in some eloquent backing vocals on “I Miss My Home” and “Closer.”

Visit www.thedivorcedmusic.com or www.myspace.com/thedivorcedmusic.

‘Never Get Enough’
Tom Yoder

In a demonstration of his musical erudition, singer-songwriter Tom Yoder picks up a variety of stringed instruments on his latest album, “Never Get Enough.” In addition to singing, Yoder deftly manipulates the strings of acoustic and electric guitars, bass, fiddle and mandolin. His skills emerge in a number of musical contexts on the disc, which jumps between country-rock, bluesy folk and instrumental bluegrass.

Yoder’s rootsy voice and arsenal of strings combine for a warming Americana sound with a rural New Hampshire feel. “I don’t want to be a star, I just want to be the best for you. And I don’t need a fancy car, ’cause I can always find my way to you,” he sings in the title track. This endearing sense of modesty prevails throughout all 10 songs, belied only by several posed pictures he includes of himself on the CD sleeve. 

Following the folky country ballad “Mare Take Me Home,” Yoder dives into some foot-stomping instrumental bluegrass on “Red Squirrel.” “Ain’t Enough Time” shifts to a sultry R&B style, while “Skippin’” reverts to simple, lighthearted folk roots. “Tuck and Roll” is an instrumental country swing romp that precedes the disc’s soft and sentimental closing number, “Start It All Over.”

Yoder and his entourage recorded most of the album at Top of the Hill Studios in Eaton. In addition to engineering and mixing the disc, Tom Dean plays harmonica on one track and sings harmony vocals. Scott Donnelly plays banjo on another, while Ian Katz plays sax, Duncan Watt plays organ, Dean Thomas plays drums and Alana MacDonald and Don Campbell add backing vocals.

Yoder, who performs live with his band The Thieves, will be at The Dolphin Striker in Portsmouth on Dec. 17 and 28 and at The Press Room in Portsmouth on Dec. 23. Visit www.yodermusic.com.

‘Casualty Menagerie’
Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys

In attempting to understand Walter Sickert’s music, one might benefit from looking at the influences listed on his MySpace page. There are popular musicians like Björk, Johnny Cash and Portishead, but the list also includes author William S. Burroughs, the movie “Hellraiser 2” and, perhaps most notably, infamous killer Jack the Ripper. (Walter Sickert, by the way, is also the name of a late British artist oft implicated as the true identity of Jack the Ripper.)

The band consists solely of Sickert on guitar, piano and vocals and Edrie on toy accordion and cymbal monkey (a toy monkey doll that bangs a pair of miniature cymbals together.) But both members also play a variety of toy instruments and other items that sound like props in a child’s nightmare about the circus. And the music is kind of like that, too.

Sickert and Edrie wrote all five songs on “Casualty Menagerie,” and Sickert provided the album’s eerie artwork, a collage of creepy doll parts and spooky toys. The music, slow and haunting, carries an aura of gothic folk and sedate experimentation, like Marilyn Manson on Dramamine. Sickert’s wailing vocals set the doldrums mood, while eerie sound sequences and effects keep things interesting.

A highlight is the third song, “Pale Horse,” which picks up the pace a bit and includes the repeated sound of a horse whinnying, making it sound like some kind of deranged cowboy song playing in a deserted ghost town.

The CD begins and ends with two versions of “No Room,” which reveals some political undercurrents to the disc’s bleak lyrics and bizarre sound. “The president made it this way, he did. For all the wars they wage, there’s no room,” Sickert moans.

Visit www.armyoftoys.com or www.myspace.com/armyoftoys.