The first thing you notice about “My Mercedes” is that Jango Flash are loud – really loud. The Newcastle band’s amps are turned all the way up to make everyone feel the same level of passion and anger they feel within.
Stream: “My Mercedes” – Jango Flash
I feel so much for those who have been affected by domestic abuse, because I see how it can change people. I wanted ‘My Mercedes’ to sound as loud as a C63 AMG, because I’m angry at what happened – it’s a furious track.
The first thing you notice about “My Mercedes” is that Jango Flash are loud – really loud, like punk-band-with-a-rock-problem loud.
Their amps are turned up to eleven in a successful bid to make everyone feel the same level of passion they feel within. The music hits hard – volatile and explosive, every note seems to unleash some kind of pent-up energy.
Yet there’s so much more to this song than meets the eye: Listen closely, and you soon realize that, behind Jango Flash’s raw indie rock fervor – the feverish guitars; the accentuated vocal performance – there lies a poignant, moving story of inner strength and perseverance, overcoming obstacles and powering through hardship.
Dear my Mercedes, I’ve got your number
Been hearing lately, you’ve been going under
Where did my girl go, how did it come to this
My body’s overflowing, with things that I don’t miss
No Sleep, I never miss a beat
Nightmares, follow me everywhere
Bad men, pretend to be my friend
And then when I think it’s over
It just happens all again
Independently released July 28, 2021, “My Mercedes” is the fifth lifetime single from Newcastle, England-based indie rock band Jango Flash. The five-piece of Jack Golightly, Samuel Frame, Adam Dixon, Ed Smith, and Alex Mitton, Jango Flash are slowly and steadily breaking out of the North East, thanks (at least in part) to the unapologetic drive they inject into every one of their songs.
Thus far, every release from the band has been a little different and distinctive; their 2018 debut single “Perseid 45” struts with a spacey MGMT-esque psychedelic influence that mirrors the astronauts seen on its cover artwork. Meanwhile, its follow-up “Deeper Thrill” churns with heated vocals, cool dynamics, and sharp beats that feel unassailably sleek and cool. 2019’s “Acting on the Telephone” channels heavy ’90s alternative rock tropes with an R.E.M.-meets-shoegaze wave, rather than wall, of sound, 2020’s “Change Agents” comes to life with cinematic, tight Strokes-y pop sensibilities.
2021’s Jango Flash seems to have built upon all those styles and sounds from the past few years, bringing them together with striking poise and alluring confidence: “My Mercedes” is radiant and punky, polished and angry, impassioned and uncompromising – a pop/rock, rock/pop bliss full of palpable feeling and fervor. One could have guessed Jango Flash had the capacity to unleash such eruptive, dramatic music on the world, but “My Mercedes” is definitive proof of their talent in action.
It’s also a display of the band’s lyricism and sonic versatility, as they switch gears in a sweetly melodic and glistening chorus that contrasts the overdriven weight and punch of the verses:
Cause’ I guess I’m not keeping score
Of the Casanovas through my door
I’ll pick myself up off the floor
Because I’m not that girl anymore
MY MERCEDES!
MY MERCEDES!
As Jango Flash’s frontman Jack Golightly explains, “My Mercedes” takes inspiration from his own mother’s story, speaking to experiences of domestic abuse and how she and his older brother handled themselves, finding the strength to soldier on through dark times and ultimately get out of a bad situation.
“‘My Mercedes’ was written to document a time in my mother’s life where she was working three jobs and traveling from city to city as a recently divorced woman with my late brother,” he tells Atwood Magazine. “She ended up in an abusive relationship with a ‘man’ who deeply damaged my brother’s trust in men. It was my mum’s friend that gave her the nickname ‘Mercedes,’ because she found elegance and strength in the way she carried herself through life’s troubles. Whenever she writes to my mum she always starts with, ‘Dear My Mercedes.'”
“So I opened the song like a letter from her, and the rest wrote itself. I feel so much for those who have been affected by domestic abuse, because I see how it can change people. I wanted ‘My Mercedes’ to sound as loud as a C63 AMG, because I’m angry at what happened – it’s a furious track. So, if the guitars aren’t sounding like ferocious cars, well… What’s the point? It would suck!”
Dear My Mercedes
I want to scream and shout
I keep on calling you
But your phone keeps ringing out
Where did you go? I need to know
I clutched the shrapnel of your bomb
and watched the afterglow
Kitchen sink, your living on the brink
This Earth forgot what you were worth
Hey man, you were my only friend
Since the very last shag
It never happened again
“My Mercedes” is a sweet and sour upheaval: Unbridled sonic drive meets deep-seated emotion as Jango Flash sear their sound into on our ears. While it’s by no means the band’s debut, “My Mercedes” feels like the start of something very special for the indie rock band, and we can’t wait to hear what they do next.
Jango Flash are set to perform at This is for The NHS, a festival in Newcastle supporting NHS workers, on September 16.
Cause I guess I’m not keeping score
Of the Casanovas through my door
I picked myself up off the floor
Because I’m not that girl anymore
Just take a breath and count to four
Don’t go making your life such a chore
I packed my things and shut the door
Because I’m not that girl anymore
MY MERCEDES
MY MERCEDES
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Stream: “My Mercedes” – Jango Flash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyz5lQsRLkg&ab_channel=JangoFlash
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