The Breakdown
Meres, fronted by the enigmatic and creative force of Mary Shannon (also in the magnificent Dvrkworld) have just released their debut album ‘WORRIED SICK’ and it has the sonic effect of a tornado with its scything guitars and explosive delivery. It is a far stretch from the more languid shoegaze approach of Dvrkworld, filled with a breathless punk urgency and razor sharp guitars
Meres have an unique style that has a genetic connection to some extent with eighties or nineties bands like Concrete Blonde or Garbage: heavy muscular guitars and dramatic almost operatic vocals.
They are an exuberant entity featuring a punky power pop aesthetic with Shannon’s luminescent vocals to the fore. Unlike her other band duties, in Meres, Shannon’s vocals are prominent, acerbic and angry, delivered over a hyperkinetic blast that’s angular and punchy. The very title of the album heralds a theme of anger and anxiety, uncertainty and vulnerability, delivered through a driving almost supernatural force.
Opening track ‘Ocean View’ is a thoroughly cathartic and enjoyable blast of punky pop powered by a wall of crashing guitars and the scintillating vocals of Mary Shannon. The guitars scythe their way into the consciousness and the rhythm section thunders like an out of control freight train, but above all the melodies ring out with a dynamism and power. And it’s not all just blast and blunder – the lyrics deal with serious issues. Shannon says:
This song is fueled by a sort of ‘exhausted by it all’ anger and feelings of disempowerment, while trying to balance these feelings with the narrative that we are responsible for our own well-being and our own happiness.
Who cares if young people don’t have a future? At least the internet and fat cats can remind them that it’s their own fault, even though real change is in the hands of corrupt pollies who couldn’t give a fuck about life beyond their own.
This is exciting, visceral punk that recalls the anger and the passion of fellow Taswegians A. Swayze and the Ghosts.
‘Bloody Neighbours’ rips and tears its way through your ears: thunderous percussion and guitars that batter relentlessly with Shannon’s angry delivery that is powerful and expressive: a new wave post punk explosion.
‘Building Humans’ briefly and lightly presses down on the brakes but the intensity and the passion remain high. According to singer/guitarist Mary Shannon,
This one is a little self-indulgent and is one of the band’s collective favourites – Building Humans is aggressively sad and rough and raw. Triumphant in the space of paralysing vulnerability. Hopefully it speaks to someone that needs it like I did at the time of writing
On entry, the music is dark and ominous underneath Shannon’s soft reflective vocals before barbed-wire guitars etch scything lines in the distance and the chorus enters with a dramatic, anthemic flourish that sets the pulse racing. There is a rawness in the lyrics that illustrates Shannon’s poetic intensity:
I was caught in a dead end cycle
Waiting to wake up
Waiting until it felt like I was enough
Fevered aching and waiting for my insides to thaw
And maybe this discomfort is all that I’ve been looking for
Of ‘Quiet Australians’, Shannon says:
‘Quiet Australians’ is part satire, part emotional survival strategy. The theme came from my psychologist telling me to ‘put on the Arts Producer blazer’ (literally and metaphorically) in order to survive events where I’m mad at the world but still need to smile politely at politicians to play the game of securing funding for vital community initiatives. Initiatives that maybe wouldn’t even be needed if we had leaders, and/or voters, who actually prioritised people over profit.
It’s about caring too much and not enough at the same time — and overthinking both. Also, everything is your fault, baby – so enjoy the ride you’ve been strapped to against your will, ‘cause it ain’t stoppin’.
‘Quiet Australians’ seems to reference the mythological silent masses that seem to be called up frequently by the more conservative side of politics, and is a delicious swipe at the need to pander to those who don’t care about the arts and artistic expression. Particularly apt in the midst of an election.
A nightmarish high pitched drone and scraping crisp guitars herald the deceptive opening for ‘Queens’ before an anthemic nuclear sonic blast erupts. Shannon’s vocals have a powerful delivery redolent of Siouxsie Sioux while the guitars batter and slice like a Finnish death metal band: cathartic and cutting. ‘Fitting In’ has a cinematic thunderous riff while Shannon switches to an almost spoken word exhortation with elements of No Doubt in its passion and power.
There is a thread of anxiety and existential dread throughout the album: a sign of the times and at the fore in ‘Death Dreams’ with its melancholic guitars, soaring melodies and bleak message:
Raise
Another stained skin horrid attempt
At less apathy while
I’m freaking out I’m freaking out
And I won’t pay to watch this scene
While you waited for love
It’s not coming
It’s not coming
‘Holding On’ has a pop sensibility lurking under its onslaught with a The Breeders/Pixies levity in the delivery which flows through to ‘She’. Final track ‘Weak Knees’ places Shannon’s vocals to the front with an ominous pounding drum in the introduction before a remorseless battering ram of guitars enters like a storm front. The end is like the end of times – squealing feedback and hysterical guitars that flail wildly and out of control.
‘WORRIED SICK’ is out now and available to stream and download here and via the link below.
‘WORRIED SICK’ is produced by Anna Laverty (Stella Donnelly, Camp Cope), engineered by Ben Simms (A. Swayze & the Ghosts), and mixed by Justin Pizzoferrato (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., The Pixies).
To celebrate the album release, Meres will hit the stage in May 2025, and it may very well be the last time you see the band in its current configuration:
📍 Launceston – Saturday 3 May @ The Royal Oak with Chamberwoman & Golden Sunbird
📍 Hobart – Saturday 10 May @ The Grand Poobah with Slaughterhaus Surf Cult & HUNKS
Feature Photograph: Cameron Jones
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