Album Review: Cab Ellis’ Live at Mercury Lounge
Photo credit: Ryan Reid
Like any elder millennial navigating kids, divorce and a shitty economy, I was not feeling the greatest this week. Believe it or not, outside of running RØKKR and living in the photo pit, I do have time to let the weight of the world settle in.
And that weight usually settles in late at night. The doom scroll starts, one video loops into the next, and you lie there ruminating on everything you can't fix about yourself, can't afford, and of course, sending absurd Reels to your contacts as some weird disconnected form of friendship or flirting.
Instead of the ritual evening doom scroll, I just wanted to vibe to some music and process things. So I opened a link Connor Abeles had sent my way to review: Cab Ellis' Live at Mercury Lounge, out this Friday, July 31.
If you haven't come across them yet, Cab Ellis is a New York City-based band fronted by Connor, backed by six bandmates, some of them jazz musicians (yes, they have a brass section). They've spent the last five or so years becoming one of the most celebrated names in the city's indie rock scene.
Live at Mercury Lounge album artwork
Photo: Colin Lane; Design: Sabrina Kaune & Annika Smith
As Connor’s voice dropped into the first track, "Nighttime OCD", my week was already feeling lighter. (The irony of skipping doom scrolling to begin listening to a track with this title, I find hilarious.) Then the trombone, saxophone and fuzzy guitars hit on the chorus and I was back in the room at my first Cab Ellis show.
It's important to give this review of a live album the context of the live experience. What you hear in this album isn't muffled applause and cheers. It's the crowd singing every word, screaming into the mic. An amp that won't stop squealing but somehow makes the recording that much better. It's genuine, it's real. And it's so on brand for Cab Ellis.
That's the best way I can describe one of their shows: you're part of the band. You give as much to the voice and the heart of it as the horns, the fuzzed-out guitars, and Connor's full-body delivery of every note.
I have long felt Cab Ellis' music was never meant to played in arenas and amphitheaters. It's for the historic no-barricade rooms across the City, for the last minute shows in park, for the small stage festivals. It’s a celebration of that indescribable feeling at a live show, the one that leaves you with goosebumps the next time you hear your favorite song.
Photo credit: Ryan Reid (Bowery Ballroom, 1/9/2026)
This live album was made for the fans. A love letter to the NYC indie scene, and for me, a reminder that no matter how commercial this industry gets, this is why artists create in the first place, and how much that energy means to everyone in the room. The ones who, on some days, have nothing much going for them until the next show.
Put this album on. Close your eyes. Imagine yourself. Sweaty, losing your voice, with a couple hundred of your friends. By the time you make it through the sixteen tracks I promise you'll find the world a little more tolerable, your outlook a little brighter.
The band’s next headline show will be at LPR in New York City on October 23. You can grab tickets HERE. This show will sell out, so don't sleep on experiencing Cab Ellis live. Follow their socials too, because these guys stay active with fans and frequently pop up at gigs around the City with just a short heads-up.
Live at Mercury Lounge
Released July 31, 2026
Nighttime OCD
The East Coast Hold On
Dogsittin’
3 Days Only
Just Like Napoleon
Another Repro of the Mona Lisa
Roaring 20s
Impossible Sports
Upward Now You Go
New York TIme
When You Get By
Gold Faith
Hammer To My Knee
Bad Health
She Put That Man Over Me
Impossible Sports (Single)
