The Living Kills at the Mercury Lounge

Merrill Sherman played in punk bands for 10 years while recording alone in an Alabama shack and later in a Chicago basement. He relocated to Brooklyn and formed the Living Kills three years ago to give new life to those early compositions. The current lineup consists of Sherman on guitars and vocals, Jennifer Bassett on organ, synthesizer and vocals, Erica Keller on bass and vocals and Brian del Guercio on drums. The band has recorded one album, Faceless Angels.

There is something engaging about watching a band perform simply because it enjoys making music. At the Mercury Lounge tonight, the Living Kills did not appear to be applying any particular formula in an attempt to become a popular bar band or to get on radio. The four musicians, while learning to master their instruments, are simply exploring the art of song craft with adventurous experiments in creativity.  This is translating into an organic yet communal group sound. Mostly inaudible lyrics and over-reverberating vocals, fuzzy guitar, light one-finger keyboard leads, throbbing bass and tom-tom heavy drums made for a stark yet hypnotic low-fidelity garage band sound, much like the psychedelic bands of the mid-1960s. The songs were purposefully monotonous, with no dazzling lead guitar solos, for instance, in order to produce a trance effect. Film projection of moving colors and shapes both on the players and on the large white sheet behind them added to this effect. I did not come out remembering any of the songs, but did feel that I had experienced an exercise in artistry at work.