Mercy Arms were an Australian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band formed in early 2005. The four-piece were made up of Thom Moore (lead vocals, guitar),

Kirin J. Callinan Kieran John Callinan (born 21 January 1986), known by his stage name Kirin J. Callinan, is an Australian singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is also a founding member of Mercy Arms and has played with the Night Game, Jack Ladder and the Dream ...

(guitar), Ash Moss (bass guitar) and Julian Sudek (drums, percussion). Their debut self-titled album was issued in August 2008 and peaked at No. 10 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums component chart. The band dissolved in February 2009 after four years together.

History

The band formed in 2005 after Moore met Callinan and Sudek at a Morning After Girls show. Callinan and Sudek lived in the same area and were childhood friends. Bassist Ash Moss joined the band soon after. The band played their first show in April 2005, three days after their first rehearsal. 2006 saw the band tour Australia with

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

, record two tracks with

Dave Sitek David Andrew Sitek (born September 6, 1972) is an American musician and record producer, known for his work with his band TV on the Radio. He has also worked with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals, Celebration, Little Dragon, Beady ...

from

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, and after an intense bidding war, eventually sign with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

in the US. However, the deal would be short-lived, and 2007 saw the band part ways with Capitol after its merger with Virgin. The band toured with the

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and

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, and played at the Sydney and Gold Coast legs of the V Festival. The band's first release, the ''Kept Low'' EP, was recorded and released August 2007 on Levity in Australia. On their self-titled debut album, released in Australia independently in August 2008, they collaborated with producer

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and mixed the album in Melbourne with Tony Espie. It peaked at No. 10 on the ARIA Hitseekers Albums component chart. Mercy Arms have been on hiatus since February 2009 after touring with the Big Day Out nationally. This is mainly credited to Callinan and Moore's creative differences. Other groups and projects involving Mercy Arms members include FLRL (Fashion Launches Rocket Launches), started by Kirin J. Callinan & Julian Sudek with Jono Ma of

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& Daniel Stricker of

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, Kirin performing solo as

and playing guitar in

Jack Ladder Timothy Kenneth Rogers (born 6 April 1983), known by his stage name Jack Ladder, is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist and composer. His music is characterised by his baritone voice and poignant observations on love and deat ...

's band, Julian Sudek playing in Canyons & Danimals, Ash Moss playing bass in Dark Bells.

Members

* Thom Moore – vocals, guitar *

– guitar noise, vocals * Ash Moss – bass guitar * Julian Sudek – drums *Alex Coutts

Discography

''Kept Low EP''

# "Kept Low" – 2:57 # "Shot Right Down" – 6:49 # "Ending To Begin" – 3:30 # "Uptown Address" – 3:24 # "Scream" – 3:14 # "Loitering with Intent" (download only)

Limited pressing singles

# "Always" # "Sacred Heart" # "Julie" # "Quit Your Fooling"

"Half Right" (Single)

# "Half Right" # "Quit Your Fooling" # "Always" (download only)

''Mercy Arms'' (Self-titled album)

# "Down Here, So Long" # "Half Right" # "Footsteps" # "To Me Now" # "Kilby" # "Speed" # "Shine A Light Down" # "Caroline" # "Firing Line" # "On & On" # "1956 State Fair" (download only)

Touring

Past touring

*Supported

on the 2006 Australian Tour. *Supported

on the 2006 Australian tour *Supported

on the 'Hearts On fire' 2007 Australia tour. *Australian "Kept Low" tour, supported nationally by

Ghostwood (band) Ghostwood were an Australian alternative-indie band formed in 2006. The original line-up, known as the Ghosts, was Tom Crandles on bass guitar, Patrick Harrowsmith on lead guitar, James West on drums and Gabriel Winterield on lead vocals and ...

*Supported

as part of the

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near B ...

sideshows in August 2007 throughout Australia. *Supported

The Horrors The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spurg ...

on their 2007 Australian Tour. *Supported

The Pixies Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering ...

on their Sydney show in 2007. *Australian album tour, supported nationally by The Process *Supported

on their 2008 UK & Scandinavia Tour *Australian "Down Here So Long" tour, December 2008.

References

{{reflist Australian indie rock groups Musical groups from Sydney