One of 2022’s most slept-on records was Mercy Union’s White Tiger. It saw frontman Jared Hart infuse boisterous but melodic heartland punk with his memories of late-’90s/early-2000s rock acts like Goo Goo Dolls, Samiam, The Wallflowers, and Third Eye Blind—the bands Hart would listen to on the radio while driving with his older sister. The result was a formidable and fascinating blend of nostalgia and urgency, past and present colliding with a sense of wide-eyed, vigorous wonder.
The group’s new single “Be Honest” is a sad, shimmering dose of moody rock ’n’ roll that’s as uplifting as it is mournful, as urgent as it is steeped in the echoes of the past. Taken from the White Tiger sessions, “Be Honest” is technically a B-side from that album, but is more than good enough to have been included on it. Unashamed to be vulnerable, it’s a song that digs right to the heart of human frailty, both on a personal level but also on a more universal one. It’s also catchy enough to give the Gin Blossoms at their best a run for their money.
Listen to the track and get trapped in the band’s incredible present-perfect vision below.
