The Mercers - This Saturday Night at Flamingo Cantina

The 80's have been coming back to haunt us with reckless abandon. And while leg-warmers and oversized plastic earrings may give us the shivers just a tad, we have found something that reminds us of the 80's that we can fully get behind. We are talking about The Mercers, a new group of some longtime Austin musicians. (A front man for an Austin band actually born in Austin? That's umpossible.)

Former front man of the rock/pop trio Choking Ahogo, lead singer/guitar player Peter Wagner decided to take his sound in a new direction - going back while undoubtedly moving forward. The influences of Peter Gabriel, the Psychedelic Furs and R.E.M. are all very apparent in the melodic landscape of the composiitons, but one can not ignore the country-inspired elements tossed into the mix.

"Combining our brit-pop inspired sound with the occasional pedal steel or country western chord progression gives our songs a sort of eery quality I think," Wagner has said. "We’re from Texas, but it’s obvious that our minds have wandered elsewhere."

We couldn't have said it any better ourselves.

After a fantastic debut performance at Flamingo Cantina, where they opened for Ghostland Observatory, the boys are back at the sweaty venue this weekend, as they continue to hone their considerable talents in preparation for the release of thier first album later this Spring. So come check out the band Flamingo's website is calling the best new rock band in Austin.

You may find yourself wanting to watch a John Hughes film while you contemplate that cute girl with the Guess jeans from algebra class who won't give you the time of day or just pound a Jolt Cola and bop your head back-and-forth.

We'll be the moody whistful one in the corner drinking Lone Star and looking tragically poetic

The Mercers will be playing along with The Chapters, Crash Gallery (featuring frmr. front man of Golden Rule), Prom Nite, Shortfilm, DJ Sexx Machine

The Mercers
Saturday, January 28th
Flamingo Cantina
10pm

The Mercers (on Myspace)
The Mercers (Official Site)