“Each lighter-waving chorus on the group’s consistently impressive debut is polished until it practically gleams.” Andy Downing - Chicago Tribune
"I’m a fan of Holding Mercury’s hooks-heavy 2008 release, 'Downfall of an Empire.'" - Greg Kot - Chicago Tribune
"’Hit’ is the key word, as Holding Mercury certainly have the hooks to spawn a few.”
Jeff Pizek - Chicago Daily Herald
So many Windy City acts are influenced by Cheap Trick, but very few borrow just a little bit and expand with their own dynamic. Though “Stuck In The Box,” off Holding Mercury’s Downfall Of An Empire, has echoes of that Rockford legend, modern alt-rock guitars and frontman Matt Hoffer’s rugged delivery never sound derivative. References like The Cars or newcomers Your Vegas aren’t that far behind throughout the melodic ear candy “Standing Eight Count” and “Let It Go,” but once again excel, thanks to inventive framework. - Andy Argyrakis - Illinois Entertainer
Hoffer's got a voice made for the radio, at times recalling Jeff Buckley, and his band drinks from a flavorful pool of influences including The Cars ("Stuck in a Box"), early U2 ("Let it Go"), and Cheap Trick ("I'm Not Well"). Chip Midnight - Big Takeover Magazine 63
"They’ve [HM] got everything; they’ve got the airwave-friendly rock formula down, made clear on songs like “Standing Eight Count” and the Daughtry-esque acoustics of “Anchors Away”, a classic rock & roll attitude (look at their website and publicity photos) that plants them somewhere between Fall Out Boy and The Police, and enough talent and style to catapult themselves past the overindulgence of The Killers and into the upper echelons of modern alternative rock. It’s pretty hard to find fault in anything Holding Mercury do on this album." -Viva La Mainstream Blog (second review)
“Holding Mercury’s album entitled Downfall of an Empire is a cyclone of fury that decimates extraneous, imposing remains on its path when you least suspect it.”…..”Downfall of an Empire is lock, stock and barrels filled to the brim with passion.”….” They really nail it here with an album that can be listened to straight through without skipping over tracks.” 8.5/10. John Berkowitz – celebritycafe.com
“This is a very cool band with a lot of qualities. The opening "Stuck In A Box" is a beautiful melodic rock piece a'la Melodine with a perfect edge a'la Cheap Trick, and the second one out "I'm Not Well" continues the race. The softer "Anchors Away" where Matt Hoffer (I wrote about his soloalbum back in 2005) shows his qualities is fantastic and ninth out "Do You" is really cool 80's smelling pop with a flirt of Tears For Fears goes Chameleon. All spiced with an american edge. Beautiful stuff. “ 3.5/5 stars. Par Windberg – melodic.net
“The melody [in “I’m Not Well”] is hooky as hell and the singer has a pretty good voice. When I checked out the band's website, I saw a review that compared them to Cheap Trick. I guess I can hear that.” The Pop Eye Blog
“If you like your rock and roll with equal parts good hooks and brains, then I implore you to pick up Downfall of an Empire on November 4th. Final Score: 8/10” TJ – Viva La Mainstream Blog
“You couldn’t ask for a more mainstreamrock sound than what you’re going to get from Holding Mercury’s “Downfall of an Empire.” With obvious influences from Cheap Trick and the 90s alt-rock sound, the new record is a crisp pop album that sounds completely ready for radio” . . “The best part of the album is that they they’ve got skills on top of the great production here. They lyrics are good and PG (lots of lines about caffeine, none about coke), the hooks are terrific, and the vocals are pitch perfect. This is not what you’d expect from an indie band.” Ekko – Berkley Place Blog
“There is a certain strength in Hoffer's vocal and an uncommon bit to his lyrics.” Jason Behrends – gapersblock.com
“I think if Holding Mercury’s “I’m Not Well” (which you can listen to below) gets into the right hands it has a shot of enjoying some significant airplay.” Rock Sellout Blog
"With a radio-ready modern rock sound, singer Matt Hoffer deliver memorable melodies....don't be surprised if Holding Mercury leaves the 'unsigned' status behind in the near future" - 365ink Magazine
"Each song performed made you want to dance to the beat. For example, their most rockin’ song, Cancerous, truly had this audience grooving to the thrilling music. SouthSide enjoyed the wild guitar riffs and rhythms that pumped the venue with lots of sound. The drum solo during Standing Eight had them cheering and wanting more of Holding Mercury. Even the encore performed wasn’t enough to satisfy this audience. They still wanted more. Overall, this band performed a headlining set their fans will never forget." - SouthSide on the Town-Fearless Radio
"I'm listening to a Chicago band called Holding Mercury. Their self-released CD Downfall of an Empire is one of those rare gems: catchy at the start, and the more you listen to it, the more you love it. You may or may not know I work at Cicero's now. Yeah, I do the booking....in my infinite wisdom, I have booked Holding Mercury to play my club next weekend. This will be the third (or fourth?) time they've been here since I took over; each time, their crowd grows, and each time, I love their music even more." PLAYBACK:stl - Laura Hamlett
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