With musicians who have also done time in Mind Over Matter, Neglect, and Milhouse, The Great Lie is as Long Island as LIHC can get.
"We formed in 2014 and have been through a few different lineups," vocalist Kerry Merkle tells me. "The current lineup has been solid since 2021 and consists of myself, John LaFata on drums, Scott Martin on bass, and Mike Scarola on guitar and vocals. We have a great chemistry and have a very collaborative process in our songwriting."
The Great Lie have released four EPs dating back to 2018, and they're gearing up to release another one called Songs For A Monday Morning. "We started out as straight-up old school hardcore punk band and progressed into thrash, crossover territory," Kerry says about the material. "The newer songs incorporate many influences from Nausea to Whores and Jesus Lizard.
"We recorded with Jast Collum at 756 Productions in Levittown. He also recorded our last release, Vertigo, and we were very happy so we went with him again. We also had the recording Mastered by Arthur Rizk who has worked on some heavy ass records. The lyrics on this one were themed around thoughts that enter your head while waiting to start work on a Monday morning."
To tease Songs For A Monday Morning, The Great Lie have already dropped two tracks from it, including "Rise and Repeat":
As a NYC native, I spent a ton of time on Long Island in my formative years, much of that time hanging at hardcore and metal shows. But what's going on these days? "There are some great younger bands like Standstill, Family Dinner, Private Mind, Human Kind, and HEAVY HEX. There really are so many great new bands it's hard to keep up.
"We are a bunch of scene veterans and many of our fellow scene vets a.k.a. old guys like Pilot Program, Playing Dead, Deadly Skies, Deathcycle, Jones Crusher, Too Many Voices, Olby, Beinn, Half Earth Medicinal, Death Certificate all still bring it. Hope we didn't forget anyone!"
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Songs For A Monday Morning will be out on April 18th via Lemmis Records. The CD version will also include The Great Lie's previous EP, Vertigo.
The Great Lie on social media: Facebook | Instagram
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