Side By Each (MISSING, 2000)

The McCarthys are the kind of band that sound better with a frosty mug of beer in your hand and a wooden bar floor under your feet. Which is to say they probably go down better in a live setting.

Tim Emery, John Davidson, Dale Holden and Jim McGirr come off like folksinger John Gorka backed by Son Volt, all crisp, very mannered vocals backed by noisy arrangements. While the instrumental "Oceans Eleven" comes off like a genre exercise songs like the toe-tapping "Stand Down'and the epic opener, "Quaker Gun," show the band digging deep to find something new. (71 Winn Road, Falmouth, ME 04105, 207-878-2154)