MERCY RULE”Providence” Relativity* * * 1/2”Don’t ask...
MERCY RULE
“Providence”
Relativity
* * * 1/2
“Don’t ask me what I believe in / Right now it’s everything,” Heidi Ore wails in the title song of this big-label debut. In its 10 songs, the Lincoln, Neb., trio conducts a grueling examination of a life struggling to escape inertia and uncertainty and find some footing, wholeness and direction.
The music, an original take on the arty-punk, alternative-rock vocabulary, reflects the treacherous nature of the ambiguous terrain of faith and temptation. Sour notes float in the storms, denying resolution and suggesting a subtle dread. Jolting, PJ Harvey-like dynamic shifts establish a sensibility flying between extremes, and the overall urgency underscores the realization that life is slipping away. No time to lose.
Fronting guitarist Jon Taylor and drummer Ron Albertson, bassist Ore sings in pure, ringing tones that are slightly damped by her a Midwest twang. Powerful enough to stay atop the most majestic surges, she also has an engaging intimacy and a no-nonsense directness that allows her to remain defiant in the testy relationship with a Higher Power that she begins negotiating. That makes it rock ‘n’ roll of the first order.
New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).
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