In the wake of the Louisville-via-Chicago late-
millennium, post-rock explosion, Mercury Program arrived at an amorphous "scene" in transition, vibraphone in hand. From The Va- pors of Gasoline-their 2000 album for Tiger Style-was hardly a sophomore slump, it's ten cerebral and dissonant jams coyly answering the never-asked query: What if new age and post- hardcore bought a house in the suburbs? This 25th anniversary remaster reveals the genius of an overlooked triumph in startlingly vibrant de- tail, providing atmospheric color for erstwhile reptile and periodic table fans alike.