Hey Mercedes - S/T EP - Polyvinyl

Review by: Jennifer Perkins

I wonder if these poor bastards have had a single person review them without mentioning that they are basically Braid in another form. Of course I am going to mention it, why overlook the obvious. Everyone loved Braid and cried themselves to sleep over their demise so being basically refereed to as Braid Part II can't that be that bad. Actually, I like Hey Mercedes better than what I have heard of Braid.

Hey Mercedes is Braid guitarist Robert Nanna, bassist Todd Bell and drummer Damon Atkinson . Chirs Broach is the missing piece here of the Braid puzzle, he is busy with The Firebird Band. Hey Mercedes has the addition of Mark Dawursk who in his own right has been in some decent bands such as Alligator Gun and Compound Red. Although Hey Mercedes sounds a lot like Braid, there are subtle differences through out the glimmering 4 song debut EP.

For one, the production seems a little slicker. Also, there is the missing element of Chris Broach's vocals, but you don't miss it. Robert Nanna holds his own and proves to be a wonderful front man. The songs are every bit as upbeat, guitar oriented, and full of little starts and stops as Braid's ever was. They have not lost the ability to write a paramount pop song. It's always a good sign about a band when I get one of their songs stuck in my head. There I was at work trying to type up some tabs for a binder singing "St. James St" to myself. This song is brimming with power chords and heavy pronounced drumbeats.

So there is no escaping the Braid comparisons for Hey Mercedes, they are destined to always wear the similarities like an albatross around their neck. However, out of all the dead birds to sport a Braid comparison is not a bad one.

Read a review of the Polyvinyl sampler Redirection here.

Read a review of the Sky Corvair here.

Read where Polyvinyl got their name from here.

See pictures of Hey Mercedes here.