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Mercury Rev: Corn Exchange, Cambridge

Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 1999

THAT MERCURY Rev have not only survived a turbulent decade but emerged from it as the alterno-rock world's darlings and champions is heroic, funny and life-affirming. As the Nineties began, I was the first Brit to see them live, in Buffalo, where they made a desperate, flailing, all but unlistenable racket in a spit'n'sawdust saloon. As the decade ends, The Rev are waist-deep in accolades and album-of-the-year calls. They have tunes, structure, style, and self-belief.

Total word count of piece: 552

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