The Please & Thank Yous

One of the things I enjoyed most about listening to At Your Merci, the new album from Chicago's The Please & Thank Yous, is that I could perfectly envision a group of friends fucking around with fast, blaring music in a buddy's basement and having a great time doing it.  At Your Merci may not sound like it was recorded at an EMI studio or anything, but I quickly found this to be its appeal.  I know the words are tossed around a lot, but it sounds real and is incredibly genuine.  Just look at the album cover; it looks like one of their friends made it for them, and yet most importantly, it works.  Besides talks on purity, the most weighty consideration is the fact that they're good.  Really, really good.  Uptempo speeds and piercing guitar lines drive most of the songs, and the classic hard rock melodies that act as the foundation for them make the record more recognizable and quicker to pick up on.  Their lyrics are also sportive, perhaps sometimes quirky, at one point singing a song about someone named Aglaia.  Above all the album is just a lot of fun, and manages to contain a lot of crucial punk elements; it puts out a "do-it-yourself" mentality, it's roisterous, catchy, and would be an awesome soundtrack to get shitfaced to in the living room of a college party.  Below I've posted some highlights from At Your Merci, "Dysnomia", "My Guitar", and "Alright Already".  If you like what you hear, Bandcamp is the place to pick it up on a name-your-price basis.  Checckkkk it.