Review: “Songs for a Monday Morning” by The Great Lie

Hailing from Long Island New York, Hardcore Punks The Great Lie have been blazing a trail since 2014. Comprising musicians known for their long lists of prior convictions in Madball, Mind Over Matter, Silent Majority, Sheer Terror, Milhouse, Dmize and Neglect, it’s safe to say they’re all seasoned veterans and yet they clearly all still have an axe to grind. Continuing their long running partnership with Arthur Rizk (Cavalera Conspiracy, Jungle Rot, Road Mutant) at the mastering desk, their latest burnt offering “Songs for a Monday Morning” was recorded and mixed by Jast Collum at 756Productions (Linda’s Mistake, The Stress, Playing Dead). So two years after impressive EP “Vertigo“, the question is very much what do vocalist Kerry Merkle, bassist Scott Martin, guitarist Mike Scarola and drummer John Lafata have left in the tank?

…and the answer to that is enough gasoline to start a blazing inferno as the bombastic bass line of “Fractured” gets things going on a politically and socially aware commentary from Merkle that cuts deep into the heart of the issues at hand. You reap what you sow and now everything is broken. The beauty of this cut is that the band have captured their live energy in the performance and come out sounding like The Refused on steroids as a result. Looser feeling than some of their previous material, the tension Merkle creates can be cut with a knife and that doesn’t change with the infectious “Rince and Repeat“. Embracing the Rock ‘n Roll spirit, this one has the twang of former Anthrax vocalist John Bush within Merkle’s performance as he screams “It could all be so much better!“. Bursts of energy from the rhythm section and an earworm riff to bringing it home in style, paving the way for the rapid fire classic Hardcore Punk tune that is “Another Way“. Lamenting the lack of change or progress, gang chants and old school riffs make for a timeless effort that could have appeared at any point since 1986 and sounded just as great.

Tearing a hole in an individual who lives an existence based on lies “Head Low” is the kind of tune we can all relate too because sadly we all know someone like that, especially in those that we happen to have the misfortune to work with on a daily basis. Fortunately lyrically The Great Lie do a fantastic job of pointing the finger without overdoing it so you can make this one your own while the verve and swagger of the musicianship will keep you coming back for another bite. Wasting no time on an introduction, vocals start in the first second of “Lay Down“, the bass heavy in the mix so it sounds like a second rhythm guitar, which works incredibly well. Riffs fly in all directions during this shorter, sharper little ditty as Merkle roars “it’s all in your mind!” and you can foresee the quartet squeezing another five percent more energy out of this live. Blast beats from Lafata might catch you off guard but “Critical Thinking” gallops with a hummable melody underneath the jagged Hardcore Punk that encases it. As fresh sounding as the other tunes on offer, it’s going to sound like a cliché but “Songs for a Monday Morning” is more like “Songs for a Monday Mourning“… [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Fractured
2. Rinse and Repeat
3. Another Way
4. Head Low
5. Lay Down
6. Critical Thinking

“Songs for a Monday Morning” by The Great Lie is out 18th April 2025 via Lemmis Records and is available over at bandcamp