Supermercado

What’s the 4-1-1?
First take a brash concoction of melodic hard rock, industrial thrash metal, electronica, rap, and power pop. Meld that together into singable, memorable songs, and you have…$upermer¢ado! This is their debut album.

Genre
Hard rock / melodic / progressive / industrial / power pop

The Good
“Scary Baby” hits you with an onslaught of frantic drum pounding, meaty riffs, and thumping bass lines. Vocalist Matt Mercado has a brooding, yet melodic vocal delivery that reminds me of a pop-ier version of Zakk Wylde. “Ditch Kitty” invokes a little influence from Monster Magnet with its mix of acoustic and electric changes. It’s another strong delivery for Matt as he switched between singing and a speaking. “Tried to Save” you starts off dark and subdued, but quick switches to an upbeat, riff driven rocker. Mercado has a great soulful sound here.

“Bitch Ass” is more of rap/rock track that I believe is making fun of the genre and lifestyle, but I could be wrong. Percussion and bass run rampant over “Leather Messiah”. The chorus is quite catchy with its falsetto highs. A hard rock driving riff dominates “What I Say” early on, but a twangy funk riff soon takes over. “Canon Ball Dream” is slower and more laid back than previous tracks and would play of well on rock radio.

The Bad
Not a damn thing!

The Verdict
To describe what $upermer¢ado sounds like is impossible. They combine so many genre styles, that they may have created a new one. Scary Baby is predominantly a hard rock album that incorporates lots of bass leads and frantic drum changes with its heavy guitar riffs and solos. It could even be classified as a hard rock dance album (if there’s such a thing), with its upbeat tempos and driving percussive elements. The lyrics are catchy and delivered with just enough grit to keep it rock, while at the same time using melody and falsetto to make it pop. Instead of trying to confuse you more, why don’t I just say this; Scary Baby kicks ass!

Did You Know?
Matt Mercado lead the early nineties with the Chicago band Mindbomb, with whom he scored a seven-figure deal with Mercury Records and toured the U.S. and Europe with such rock legends as KISS and Rob Halford

- www.rock-is-life.com

Review by:

Penelope Biver

January, 2006 Issue

8 out of 10!

Chicagoan Matt Mercado is the city’s rock ‘n’ roll Energizer Bunny

– he keeps going and going… He first found success in the early

‘90’s with the glammy Daisy Chain, which morphed into the harder,

metally Mindbomb.

The latter continued the run of success with Opening gigs for KISS

and Rob Halford, and inclusion on some major film soundtracks.

But Mercado didn’t give up; instead he and then/now band members

Gregg Potter (drums), John Skender (bass), and Michael Ray Garrett (guitar) formed Pivot Man,

Which never catapulted them very far outside the local scene. Fear not,

though, as Mercado Is back again with Supermercado, delivering

Mindbomb to the umpteenth power. Adding Rapper Cliff “Killa Kat” Hunt

gives the band Plenty of rap metal cred; Hunt brings it Home on top of

some kick-ass, rap-inspired Guitar/bass work. “Leather Messiah” and

“What I Say” are close seconds, conjuring Disturbed meets ICP.

Unfortunately a few Tracks on the front end may be a tad too rem-

iniscent of a past metal era that’s best left There, but once you hit “Bitch

Ass,” the fun

Only builds.

- Illinois Entertainer

This fucker made me sit up!

Coming in from the blind

side with a name that just

reminds me of having to buy

bread rolls in Spain, I didn't

expect much and ended

up with a fistful of gems.

Who the hell are they and

where did they come from?
Who the hell knows, but

if you were to cross those

early nineties contenders

Kingofthehill with (desperately

searches...), mabye Limp

Bizkit and a fair few Megadeth

style riffe, you might be half

way clost to understanding

what's going on.

Scary Baby is a roaring ride

through every bullet in their

gun. It drips funk and power

every steip of the way-

someboday need to make a

video for this song, even if

they never do anything else!

Ditch Kitty switches gears and

drops Kid Rock influenced

into the grinder and comes

in with a fine driving tune.

Sparklz has also go

some good stuff going on

inside it's brain, and Bitch

Ass is pure pimp-rock.

School of Kid Rock 101!

So why just the three

stars? After 5 or 6 songs, the

songwriting just runs out! The

five songs at the end of the

album are just not memorable

in way, shape or form - and

I'm pretty pissed off at that,

because I was on it! I was there!

It would be easy to pull

Scuzzy sex reference out of the

hat here, but I'm walking away,

tail between legs because it

was so nearly there y'know. DO

- Zero Magazine UK

Reviewed by Dave Palmer



This album was of particular interest to me. I don't know if many of you remember the band Mind Bomb from the very early 90's. The band wrote pretty infectious music that was on the heavy side with dance beats in places. I bought the bands album back in the day, but lost track of them until about 6 months ago. The familiar member that came to the forefront was Matt Mercado. I think you can put two and two together. Supermercado...yep. I downloaded some MP3's awhile back after finding Mercado again and liked what I heard. What you get is more of the same with an updated sound. What Matt has added in the music is a hip hop vocalist as well. Now don't panic and run the other way. This is not a hip hop release, it's a hard rock release with a bit of hip hop in the backing vocals and at times Killa Kat takes the front for short periods. If you imagine Saliva and the way those style of vocals were handled on the band album 'Every Six Seconds' you will probably get the idea of what I mean. Anyway, I really enjoy this release, but for you traditionalists out there, you will have to open your mind a bit. It's more modern oriented, but infectious as hell. There really isn't a tune on this album that won't have you toe tappin' at one time or another. There are some great sounding sing along choruses as well. I just think there is alot to like. You also get a little of the flash that is remiscent of bands like Dope in the guitar work. Now I didn't say they sounded like Dope either, just so we keep that straight. My own favorites that I would mention include 'Scary Baby' with it's opening aggressive vibe. Very catchy. 'Ditch Kitty' is cool as well. This is one of the hip hop tinged tunes. 'Bitch @$$' is full of attitude, but may not appeal to everyone. It's kind of fun though. 'Cannon Ball Dream' has some good driving rhythms and will have you singing or headbanging... maybe both. 'What I Say' is pretty catchy and has a funk vibe to it. Rounding out the list is 'Pookie'. Not sure what that is all about, but it's fun and memorable.



Overall

I find this release to be a helluva lot of fun to listen to. It may not be for everybody, but if you have an open mind, it might just work out. Fans of Mind Bomb may want to pay particular attention due to the presence of Matt Mercado. If you remember Mind Bomb, this new band is sort of like that, but maybe a bit more updated and more bombastic. It's all in good fun and the band have the potential to get some radio attention if played right. If you like it more modern with a dose of fun, don't miss this release!
- www.heavymetalresource.com

Supermercado: a Chicago-based rock band with a likeable sound. They rock, they rap, and bring their listeners in and out of a multitude of styles from hardcore, to rap, to slower singing and instrumentals. For rock fans everywhere, Supermercado keeps true to their rock roots. However, even though I am not too partial to hardcore rock, I really enjoy this album. You can rock out, relate and really appreciate their sound. Overall, Supermercado’s album is well, super.

Reviewer: Margo Strupeck new pop

Reader's Rating: 10.00


- www.Celebritycafe.com

Matt Mercado and the rest of his thunderstruck band Supermercado all have a history in the music scene. Greg Potter, John Skender and Michael Ray Garrett all did time in Pivotman with Matt and Matt was in the Mercury Records band Daisy Chain in the '90s. Mercado then went on to form Mindbomb, which toured with Van Halen, KISS and Rob Halford among others.

Putting that illustrious past behind them, the guys have re-emerged with rapper/soul singer Cliff Hunt, the band's name inspired by guitarist Mercado. With their debut, Scary Baby, Supermercado bring a party rock blend of melody, soul vocals, metal heaviness and, in general, a wicked groove to dance to. Raise your hands and shake your fist, scream along to the anthemic choruses and bang your head to the guitar god axework.

These guys do it all and they do it like the pros they are. Cliff Hunt sings like Glenn Hughes with a beefy yet powerfully handsome style and the band just plain out rock and rock hard. This is glory days rock n' roll and it's quite refreshing to hear. Let's not forget that as Mindbomb, the band had movie soundtrack cuts for the movies Cliffhanger and Kalifornia, featuring Sylvester Stallone and Brad Pitt respectively. These guys don't fool around, they bring it hard and correct and the ideas here are flawless and fully developed. Top-notch rock!
- www.mondogordo.com

SUPERMERCADO-Scary Baby
Dark Star Records
Chicago’s Supermercado isn’t the Spanish grocery store on the corner, it’s the newest brainchild of Mindbomb musical mastermind Matt Mercado. Take some early nineties funk rock ala Fungo Mungo or Infectious Grooves and blend it with the hybrid metal sound of Bobaflex and you get a pretty clear picture of what Supermercado sound like. The bass playing is cool and the inter-play between the hip hop and the rock style vocals works well. The band kicks out some catchy tunes like Scary Baby, Tried To Save You, Leather Messiah and the heavily hip-hop influenced Bitch Ass. Then, out of nowhere comes the track Turn It On which sounds like a hold over from Van Halen’s Fair Warning album. In fact, I had to double check the track listing on Fair Warning and Women And Children First to see if it was a cover. You know, now that I think about it, I’d like to hear these guys kick out a version of Mean Streets. Well, for the time being it’s two thumbs up for this one and the cover art ain’t too shabby either !
www.supermercadorock.com
- www.eastcoastromper.com

Supermercado

Scary Baby

Dark Star Records

www.darkstarrecords.com


Not being a stranger to the major label world, Matt Mercado has assembled a crew of veteran musicians and called them Supermercado. Some of Mercado's work can be found in his former bands, Mindbomb and Pivotman. Supermercado gains strength by pulling influence from more than one genre. With such diversity in the music, the band is sure to garner the same success that Mercado has seen in the past.

Supermercado is set to release the debut of their cornucopia of musiacl genre on the debut entitled, Scary Baby. The Chicago based band shows their experience early on the debut. "Scary Baby" opens the door to an album filled with infectious music ranging from metal, melody, rap and funk. The opening track features the solid bass licks of John Skender, the fret fury of Michael Ray Garrett and the combined vocals of Mercado and rapper/soul singer Cliff "Killa Kat" Hunt. The beat of the band is held together ny drummer Gregg Potter, another member that isn't a stranger to the major label world.

The fun thing about Scary Baby is that each track can actually be split up into different genres. One minute you are listening to rock and then there is some metal guitar, then out of the blue a rap segment. Supermercado plays an infectious blend of music that is pleasing to the senses. Good luck placing a label on these guys.



Key Tracks: "Sparklz"

Reviewed by: Eric Stephens - www.thegreatnothing.com