Mercy

To our Liverpool readers, or those within easy reach by bus and train: if you do one thing this weekend, go watch The Grand Architects (above) at The Zanzibar Club on Seel St tomorrow (Sat Mar 7).

The band are, to put it colloquially, beauty. Their eponymous debut album swayed between lovelorn country and 1950s rock'n'roll, with occasional excursions into a sonic territory best described by the portmanteau frunge (folk with added fuzz, or grunge with the ennui swapped for protest lyrics Woody Guthrie would be proud of). They even threw in the odd tap-dancing solo, as heard on Farewell Western Devils (below).

THE GRAND ARCHITECTS - FAREWELL WESTERN DEVILS


Tomorrow's gig - a surprise reunion as the band split last year - is part of Liverpool band night The Company Store (the name is a reference to a song by Kentuckian country legend Merle Travis). Tickets are little steep at £8.50 considering headliner Pete Molinari isn't all that great, but The G.A.s and fellow support act (and founder of The La's) Mike Badger should give you your money's worth. Doors are at 8pm, band are on at 10.30pm, and you can hear more of them for now on MySpace.