KEY POINTS:
If you've never bothered to listen to Thirsty Merc simply because of singer Rai Thistlethwayte's feather-duster hair - or you've subconsciously decided they must be car-obsessed bogans with a name like that - well, you could have a point. But you could also be missing out on hearing one of the smoothest male vocals in Aussie music.
"The facial hair is the only thing that's influencing the sound really," quips Thistlethwayte. "That's the zenith of our whole existence. If you have facial hair like mine you can be me for the night - female, male, whatever kind of beard you're sporting."
Keep it in mind when Thirsty Merc return to New Zealand for the third time to play a series of gigs with Evermore. The tour was cut short due to commitments back home, so they're playing a one-off gig on their own at the Transmission Room on Wednesday instead of their original June 30 date with Evermore.
For those yet to make the band's acquaintance, Thistlethwayte says that along with their easy-on-the-ears pop-rock tunes, we can expect "a very down-to-earth personality on stage".
That down-to-earth attitude was more apparent on their first, self-titled album.
Their second, Slideshows, is more serious. Songs such as The Whole World Reminds Me Of You, Homesick and The Hard Way - where he sings "I'm missin' you like crazy baby, I've screwed up again and again, keep making the same mistakes" - hint at a turbulent period for the singer, particularly in the romance department.
"I have had some ups and downs," he says.
"We were in that period where we were writing more and starting to do some good stuff and it's weird that you can come out of it with something darker than before. Maybe it's a natural reaction to realising what life's about. Maybe it's because I was touring all the time and I couldn't get things together with anyone.
"It's hard - there's a constant balance and battle with artists. It's more serious for sure. But it's also a little more emotionally deep so it's not colder; it's more involved."
Thirsty Merc got together when Thistlethwayte and bass player Phil Stack played as session and live jazz musicians in the country town of Dubbo. They recruited guitarist Matt Baker (later replaced by Sean Carey) and drummer Karl Robertson, starting playing gigs and eventually moved to Sydney. It didn't take long for their accessible songs to seep into the Aussie consciousness, with songs like Emancipate Myself on high rotate.
With their mainstream success has come the inevitable criticism that the Merc play it safe musically. And Slideshows, featuring new single 20 Good Reasons, definitely has a polished, radio-friendly sound.
You could even call them Australia's answer to Maroon 5.
But setting them apart from the pop-rock fray, aside from the facial hair, is their strong musicianship. They're obviously well schooled in soul, blues and R&B, particularly on songs like The Vision, where Thistlethwayte sounds like Stevie Wonder.
"A lot of the time when people try and pull off that soul-rock element they can't get the combination right and it comes across contrived. With me, I'm more vocally inspired by Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Donny Hathaway, Michael Jackson. That's what I was listening to when I was trying to find my voice.
"I've listened to so much classic rock as well. Deep Purple was probably one of my favourite bands. We've all brought that stuff into it, all those bands from the 70s."
Thistlethwayte has his parents to thank for that. His mum, a piano teacher, taught her son to play; his dad played in several bands in the 60s and 70s and had a big record collection. There was never any question about which path his career would take. After studying classical and jazz he wound up at the other end of the musical spectrum, writing ad jingles. Logic suggests that has lent itself just as heavily to Thirsty Merc's succinct, catchy choruses.
"It was cool work to pay the bills. But my most personal form of expression is songwriting. That has always existed above and beyond all that other stuff. This is what it's always been about. I've done lots of different things along the way because I've loved all types of music and never discriminated stylistically. I just wanted to do it all."
Performance
* Who: Thirsty Merc
* When and where: Transmission Room, Wednesday
