Hey!Album Review

Don Waller
Blah3.com

Bands nowadays are pretty much just groups of guys or girls who blend in. For every Billy Corgan or Courtney Love, there are about a thousand Matchbox20s or Third Eye Blinds. Chances are real good that if you ran into Page Hamilton from Helmet at your local mall, you'd think he was just another kid with a skateboard stashed somewhere. Put last year's Warped Tour roster in a room together and I guarantee you couldn't pick out who 80 per cent of them were.

My point? Just that in this atmosphere, when someone stands out their stardom is nearly guaranteed. Take Butch Walker from Marvelous3. This is a guy who believes in his heart that rock and roll is all about style, and Walker's got it in spades. He's the guy that you know is going to steal your girlfriend, but he's so cool you just can't hold it against him. Walker knows that killer clothes and attitude will get you pretty far nowadays. But if you're going to talk the talk, you better have the tunes to back it up. Nothing attracts public derision better than an untalented doofus who dresses like a rock star, and critics can be hilariously cruel.

Not to worry. M3 have every right to exhibit rock star 'tude, because 'Hey!Album' is isn't just the best debut by a band this year, it may be one of the most completely realized debut since 'Get The Knack'. They've got tons of pop smarts and amps that go up to 11. They've got a real sense of humor about themselves and what they're doing. And they may have the best rock album of 1999, because nothing released so far this year even comes close to this album.

'Hey!Album' kicks off with 'You're So Yesterday', and while drummer Slug (yes, Slug) and bassist Jayce Fincher rumble and roar, Walker drops lines like 'You were cool as hell like e-mail, but timeless like a letter'. The song's got a real 80s feel, but with enough post-grunge guitar crunch and end-of-millenium awareness to convince you that these guys aren't living in the past.

You've probably heard 'Freak of the Week' already, and this sly re-write of the Byrds' 'So You Wanna Be a Rock And Roll Star' sums up M3 to maddening perfection. They've wedded the melody of one of rock's most scathing self-criticisms to lyrics about clothes. The first single from the album shows Walker's self-awareness to a tee, with the lyrics to the bridge being 'Tell me I sold out, go ahead'. If there's another new band that's as savvy as M3, then you'd better tell me who they are.

Okay, we've established that M3 rocks and that they know exactly how cool they are. That would be enough to convince me that these guys are going global soon. The next surprise is the sensitivity of Butch Walker's lyrics. While the band lays down no-nonsense rock, Walker writes lyrics full of concise imagery and loopy metaphor. I'm struck by how compassionate these lyrics are - and that's another indication that young girls are going to connect with Butch Walker bigtime.

'Hey!Album' roars headlong through its running length, feeling like a good party that gets better as it goes along. By the time the band reaches 'Let Me Go', you've been transported to guitar pop heaven. Make no mistake - M3 are relentless, and they reveal a new melodic twist or bit of rock flash about every ten seconds. I haven't seen them live, but they're one of the few new bands I'm going to go out of my way to see. Their live show's just gotta be a bitch.

As good as the songs and lyrics are, they're made even stronger by the album's smart production. Jim Ebert and Walker give the recording plenty of live feel, and the mixing chores were handled by Michael Barbiero. Barbiero's no stranger to incendiary debut albums - he and Steve Thompson mixed 'Appetitie for Destruction'. Barbiero's aim is, as usual, true - he takes advantage of the band's muscle and applies just the right amount of sonic wallop.

I was saying last week how there are bands that make me feel hopeful for guitar rock in a review of Three Colours Red. You can add M3 to the list, and you might well consider putting them right at the top. If Butch Walker doesn't get a slew of kids running out and buying guitars, then I'm hard-pressed to guess who will.