In this town, bands come and go on a whim, while others quietly cocoon into new projects. For locals Mercury Sky, all it involved was a name change and suddenly it's a whole new monster.
While in the former incarnation of 3rd Man In, the music was straight ahead punk rock with a fierce young energy and just a pinch of we're-older-than-we-seem maturity. But now, something's happened, and it's most notable on "Lift Me Up," which exchanges plow-through punk with little moments of atmospheric calm that make it just this side of stable (see Thursday for the more advanced example of this).
The Walls That We Bring is a series of growing pains, not just in the literal honest lyrics, but also in the band's direction, which this early in the game is a little confused, but that's as expected. The most potential comes in those moments, like in "Bleeds Through," when a wide circle of anger pares down at the end into focused pain.
It's interesting to see kids evolve and change. And for Mercury Sky, the interest is piqued, but time will tell if it will hopefully find it's niche.