Hey!Album Review

Janury, 1999
Heather Prince
AllStar

The Marvelous 3 -- Hey! Album (Elektra) The Marvelous 3 spell cool "kool" and cause "cuz." Their lyrics incorporate Bobby Brady, Cokes and smiles, and compassion "with a side of mayonnaise." All this is an attempt at cutesy cleverness, and it's way too self-conscious. If that isn't enough to make you want to kick their asses, then take a listen to how this sounds. Most of Hey! Album plays like background music for a VH1 fashion show -- except for the verse of their radio smash "Freak of the Week," which is a direct lift of the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star" (okay, maybe they're just in the emulation phase of their career). Or maybe this chord progression was filched purposely to connect with their song's similar theme -- self-images and selling out, and other rock and roll star anxieties -- but then, that would add a level of ironic consciousness that seems beyond this band. Earnest musicianship? Stirring lyricism? No, smart rock is dead, and the Marvelous 3 are jumping up and down in Spacehog's hand- me- down boots like battery- charged, radio- erected glamour boys on its grave.