[1][4] During 2001 Seventh Avenue were finalists for the Brisbane Rock Award, which earned them the right to play at Queen Street Mall Basement.
[13] "Pellet Gun", a track from the EP, was issued as a single,[11][14] it was co-written by Blaik, O'Brien, O'Connor, Procopis and Spooner.
[15] It was added to the Triple J play list and in October 2007 it appeared on Power On – Rock Hits 2007, a various artists' compilation album.
[17][18] Small Mercies contacted their next producer, Matt Wallace, after he left a message on their MySpace website: "Hey guys, love this stuff.
[2][18] The group recorded their debut album, Beautiful Hum (May 2008), over an eight-week span in late 2006 in Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley, working at The Pass and Sound City Studios.
In January 2001 Blaik described 7th Avenue's connections, "bands like Live, Counting Crows and Pearl Jam so it's not too heavy... We mainly play covers at gigs but we add our own flavour as well.
"[1] He identified his favourite albums: August and Everything After by Counting Crows, Live's Throwing Copper, and The Joshua Tree by U2.
"[11] Curtis described how "Pellet Gun", the lead single "couples hard-hitting lyrics and memorable guitar riff... and attacks every listener's past loves with an attitude and vindictiveness that the heartbroken, dumped and hard-done-by deserve.
"[11] In an interview on Australian Music Online Blaik listed his favourite Australian artists, and specified some of their attributes or albums: INXS and their lead singer Michael Hutchence's ability "to create so much power and emotion"; Powderfinger's dedication and uniqueness, and Odyssey Number Five which had "everything that I love about Powderfinger"; Crowded House especially Neil Finn's song writing capabilities; Silverchair's Diorama which was "a journey from beginning to end"; The Cruel Sea's live performances; and End of Fashion's self-titled debut album, which he opined "represent to us a place that we would want to be in the near future.
"[35] In November 2007 FasterLouder's Melbjuz caught their performance at the Chapel in Melbourne, she felt they provided "Emotionally charged melodies... ringing guitar work from Procopis and Blaik's charismatic stage persona" moving from "a real rock-edged buzz" with "Sorry" to "a slower, evocative track" with "Fools".
[36] American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) reported that critics had found that Small Mercies' "sound has elements of Matchbox 20, Maroon 5, Bon Jovi and Nickelback with memorable melodies, along with the heartfelt voice of Steve Blaik and the songs he creates with writing partner, guitarist Danny Procopis.
"[37] TheDwarf.com.au website's MikeOwnsYourFace praised "Innocent" as "an epic rock ballad that beckons for lighters and mobile phones to be raised in salutation" but noticed that for the album's later tracks "The band seems to run out of steam, with most of the songs ending up sounding the same as the last.
"[38] In an interview in the Cairns community newspaper, Cairns Bulletin, O'Brien described their musical forte: "Rock's such a broad term... we do a lot of harder stuff but we also do softer variations" and that his fellow members know "which buttons to press to make things kick in and when to give space when one needs it.