Have Mercy! The return of Mike Dinallo and company BY BOB GULLA

Well, the Mercy Brothers are back, and if you didn’t know they were gone, here’s the story. The band, led by former Radio King honcho Mike Dinallo and featuring former Savage Barrence Whitfield, recently embarked on a European tour. The band, which features Paul Kochanski on acoustic bass, Andy Plaisted on drums, Tim Kelly on dobro, and Providence harp player Tim Taylor, plays a downhome brand of gritty roots-rock, and sold out every night of their European tour. According to Dinallo, "We had SRO in Oslo, had to add another night in Bergen demand was so high, and [at another club] we had 250 in the room and had to turn another 100 away." And they played before 10,000 folks at the Belgium Rhythm & Blues Festival in the city of Peer.

How did they draw so well in the area? One huge help was hiring Norwegian guitar legend Vidark Busk to assist. Busk’s band, the True Believers, is massively popular in that part of the world and the association served the Mercy Brothers well. Vidar has been widely credited with revitalizing interest in the blues in Norway, winning two Norwegian Grammys in the process, including one for Artist of the Year. But that’s not to diminish their own accomplishment. The Mercy Brothers’ new album, Strange Adventure (Gibraltar Records), is receiving considerable airplay overseas, and getting press and buzz everywhere. "We did a couple of live radio shows and one TV thing," says Dinallo. "People were singing along with the songs!"

Dinallo and company also spent some time with ex-Blaster Phil Alvin. "I got to play with Phil backstage and Barrence and I went live on Belgian Radio One with him at the festival in Peer. What a gas!"

Dinallo and company are back home now, but not for long. In October, they plan to head back across the pond to further promote Strange Adventure and capitalize on the buzz. "I think we’ve got something here," says Dinallo.

Written primarily by Dinallo, Strange Adventure stands as a promising milestone in the Mercy Brothers’ fast-flourishing career. Recorded in four days in Boston in April and produced by Dinallo and Sean Carberry, Strange Adventure is a zesty disc, hinging on Dinallo’s twang and strum and Whitfield’s smoky vox. Songs like "Misery Train" and "Down That Road" feel like covers of raucous blues-roots classics, but are actually Dinallo originals, a nice indication that the Mercys are indeed onto something. This is a band to watch. Too bad they’re gonna be too far away — in front of hordes of adoring European fans — to get a good look at!

Mr. Lincoln: Everybody Almost Went Somewhere (Big Chicklet, www.mrlincoln.net)

Coming to life more than six years ago, Mr. Lincoln attracted a following almost immediately. As principal members David Bourget, Adam DiTomasso, and Eric Correia found their songwriting groove, they also found interest in their music. When guitarist Dave Hollis joined the band, he immediately enhanced the band’s sound. They recorded their debut, Wetting the Bed, back in 1999 in a friend’s basement.

Things have changed considerably for their follow-up, Everybody Almost Went Somewhere. Not only has the band begun making their records in a legitimate studio (Danger Multi-track) and worked with a legitimate producer/engineer (Joe Moody), they’ve refined their sound enough to be taken seriously, aspiring to reach the level of bands they’re often compared to: the Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, and other national acts. The recording is fine and crisp, played with serious chops. Bourget and Smith are excellent guitar players, and the rhythm section of DiTomasso and Correia anchor the sound with style.

Songs like the brisk "Wu Town Shuffle" and "Think" recall simpatico musical spirits like the Dead and Phish, while "Lemonwheel" has a more sweeping, folk-oriented sound. This is the perfect gift for Mr. Lincoln fans. Now if they can only change the title of this gift to Everybody Went Somewhere, it would better reflect the optimism this band should unquestionably possess.

Turning Blue: Whatever Til We Die (Pal-Tone)

Better late than never for a review of our pop-punk heroes Turning Blue who, according to their website, are on an East Coast tour through August 22 (they’ll be back at Lupo’s on September 2). You can be sure they have a bunch of great tunes to play — Whatever packs an even dozen of them.

Produced by singer/guitarist Scott Thomas, the album is a searing and melodic homage to pure power-punk. Patterning themselves after hyper-tuneful folks like Green Day, ALL, and the Descendents (I won’t even mention Sum 41 and Blink 182, ’cuz they kinda suck), Turning Blue is obviously confident in its ability to play compelling songs with bite. "Break My Stride" (yeah, the Matthew Wilder song) and the opening "Letdown" are scorching bits of poppy punk heavy enough to impress harder core fans, while "Running Out" and "Let’s Get Lost" are thumping punk tracks with a generous dose of poetic expressionism. Sounds weird, but Thomas, the band’s principal songwriter, is smarter than your average tunesmith, and it shows up nicely throughout this disc. This, of course, is not a bad thing. Check it out.

WANDERING EYE. Blues Bastard is playing Saturday (the 9th) at the Met with Wheat and the Deadly Snakes, which sounds like a super-cool show, even if you’re not a hipster.

Pete Depressed, formerly of Meat Depressed, has a new Boston-based bunch of punks assembled called the Gobshites, about which Black 47’s Larry Kirwan has a few words: "There’s a subtle difference between an idiot and a gobshite. An idiot basically doesn’t know his arse from his elbow. A gobshite is full of shit but he knows what’s going on. He may even be intelligent. However, he is opinionated and a large sized pain in the arse, but he may get you drunk and fuck your girlfriend when you’re taking a piss. That’s the Gobshites for you! They’re full of it, but make no mistake about it, they’re going to make it. My concern is: when that great day comes, will they be fucking my girlfriend in the back of their limo?" The band plays on Saturday at the Blackstone.

Jillian Vaitkevicius reminds us that she books an open mic night every Sunday at Cats in Pawtucket, and will host on Thursday nights beginning this week at the Safari Lounge, with Jiya as her house band. Jillian’s intention is good; she’s trying to help local bands network.

Here’s some advance notice: Vic Thrill plays Thursday (the 14th) at the Safari Lounge (11 p.m.). Also on the bill are Randy Pinto and the Galactic Boots and the Knockout Drops. And Robin Lane, of Chartbusters fame, is out with her first new CD in 19 years. It’s called Piece of Mind (Windjam), and it ably updates the new wave/rootsy pop sound that made the outfit briefly famous on Warner Bros. in the early ’80s. The band will play a free show on August 15 at 7 p.m. at Borders at Providence Place Mall .

E-mail me with music news at big.daddy1@cox.net