The Mercury Dimes "Dime-O-Mite" (Independent 2005)

I’m not usually tempted by a 14-track session of Appalachian-style fiddle music but the seductive charms of San Francisco’s Mercury Dimes are hard to resist. From the cracking graphics and innovative package design down to the persuasive old-timey rhythms of the music tucked inside, this is an aural journey back up a spiritual sort of ‘Walton’s Mountain’ --to a kinder, gentler age of hoedowns and square dances when bashful farmers fell in love to quaintly titled songs like ‘Indian Ate a Wood Chuck and ‘Sal’s Gone to the Cider Mill’. Not a lot of variety here but the playing is tight and accomplished. The Mercury Dimes sound and play more like a family than a group of musicians, a sense most apparent on thevocal harmonies in ‘Lover’s Lane’ and ‘No Letter in the Mail’ which are particularly memorable and distinctive.

Date review added:  Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Reviewer:  Robin Cracknell
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  Band website: www.themercurydimes.com
Language: eng