Hey Mercedes
Hey Mercedes EP
Polyvinyl
This is first EP from this new band, but already there’s a heap of expectations and noise surrounding it. Hey Mercedes is three-fourths of the much-lauded Braid, minus Chris Broach (now in the Firebird Band) and plus Mark Dawursk (ex-Alligator Gun). This pretty much picks up where Braid left off. Not that the two bands are interchangeable – you can tell a Hey Mercedes song from a Braid song – but there aren’t many surprises either. Their same chemistry is intact, as are their approaches, but add a different person with his own unique variables into the equation and you’re bound to come up with something somewhat different, even when the trademark styles of the others are still in full play.
So now that the Braid history is out of the way, let’s drop it, shall we? It’s not very fair to compare the two, so let’s continue with Hey Mercedes, a fine band in their own right.
Four excellent songs of emo/indie rock, straightforward for the most part, but with clever little melodic twists and turns hidden here and there. Bob has distinctive vocals, nicely sung with a fondness for wordplay. They remind me of a couple other bands… I forget. Anyhow, this is a strong little debut EP that easily propels them towards the front of a sometimes-tired genre. It’s refreshing to hear something like this and get excited again.
Polyvinyl Record Co., P.O. Box 1885, Danville, IL 61834-1885; http://www.polyvinylrecords.com, http://www.heymercedes.com
