Mirrors and Wires' latest 7-inch proves to be quite the anomaly on the Headcount catalogue (Hostage Calm, Coke Bust, Seasick). Unfortunately, such specificity is easily susceptible to narrow and banal criticisms--in Mirrors and Wires' case, "campy" is an all-too-common assertion. To that, I'll give a resounding "duh!". If we look at the band's twangy, surf-infused rockabilly at face value, we see a competent group of musicians, swimming upstream against the current trends of what people "want" to hear; Mercitron contains three throwback songs that are intriguing and refreshing, however inherently silly.

Two out of the three cuts are instrumentals (give or take some "ah"s), that gallop and then linger behind a modest recording. "Meet Me in the Cape" and "Pharm of Love" serve as a capable opener and closer, respectively, the former being a fitting introduction of sorts into their world while the latter is a four-or-so-minute jam session, filled with the reverb-doused, pseudo-Middle Eastern riffs you could want. Sandwiched between is the title track, "Mercitron." I'm assuming the name comes from the euthanasia technique implemented by Dr. Kevorkian. The song has the only real vocals, which kinda sound like a scrappier Kinks.

This is basically what you would expect--minus crazy guitar masturbation--so I'd keep moderate expectations. I'm frankly just glad there are bands that still sound like this, but it'll be interesting to see how they expand on such a paricular sound.