RVG - A Quality Of Mercy

Well, *someone's* been listening to Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express. Heart Paste has the urgency of Spring Rain, the enigma of Palm Sunday and the same swim in the sound as Head Full Of Steam. It's easily one of my favourite songs of the year.

The band is RVG as in Romy Vager Group, which is a nod to the Patti Smith Group. I can hear that, but more obviously there's Echo and the Bunnymen and the patchouli-scented whiff of goth rock. That doesn't quite do it for me, but everyone else is losing their shit over the A Quality Of Mercy album.

Some songs I like a hell of a lot - Vincent Van Gogh hits the right spots, for example - but honestly it might just be that there's nothing nearly as good as Heart Paste. Yes, I could say that for most other albums this year.

This album came out in February and sold out in the blink of an eye. I bought the download a week later. A Quality Of Mercy has just been reissued on vinyl so you should give it a go. You might love all of it and I'm just precious and over-demanding.