Mermaid Avenue - Temptation And Half The Truth

Mermaid Avenue

​Temptation And Half The Truth
self-released; 2018

​3.7 out of 5

By Bill Todde

Mermaid Avenue calls Brisbane, Australia their home. They released their debut album Temptaion and Half The Truth in early August of 2018. Merging the sounds of each distinct era of alternative, some country and a certain melancholy in their delivery Mermaid Avenue has created a sound that will appeal to listeners for being both familiar and fresh.

The fourth track on the album, and the album’s namesake, starts with repeated guitar chords that underline a monologue. As the other instruments join, the room seems to open up behind the band. The space that they are taking up goes from a small bedroom to a foyer. The energy also jumps from a walk on the beach to a brisk walk to meet a late bus.

The switch is seamlessly and effortlessly by Mermaid Avenue, a quality of theirs that made listening to this album more than once a necessity. When the organ finally joins in, there are still two minutes for the well timed combination of instruments to take the listener on a complete journey.

As that journey fades, a few tracks down the album is “Caroline.” A much more hard rocking song with a boogie feeling to it, the energy is as high as ever as the band takes off on a tear to drive this song right into the hearts of listeners. The piano is what adds the needed spice that the song uses to carry itself from a good song to a really good one. The solo that carries the song to a close is as lively as any rock piano solo played before it. It sets the tone for the final two songs on the album incredibly well, carrying listeners into it with the energy that is needed to finish the album strong.

​A hard hit of classic ’90s alternative, the time since its hey-day has allowed Mermaid Avenue to fine-tune the sound. It sounds immediately familiar to fans of bands like Gin Blossoms, Barenaked Ladies, Collective Soul, Everclear, Counting Crows or The Wallflowers. However, it’s not boring. Mermaid Avenue takes Temptation and Half The Truth in directions that mesh with modern alternative rock. The calm delivery of the lyrics and the accompanying reverbed backing track would fit into Empire Records as well as it would in the trailer for a movie on television today. As energetic as their sound is, it also provides a calm sense for listeners. Not entirely unique in terms of the overall sound of the album, it’s unique in the way that it merges a range of influences in the genre over a span of a few decades.

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