MARVELOUS3 HEY! ALBUM HIFI/ELECTRA RECORDS

At first glance, Marvelous3's lead singer and guitarist Butch Walker looks like a disturbing mixture of Alice Cooper and Danny Zuko. Appearances are often deceiving, but in this instance Walker's countenance is as paradoxical as the refreshing blend of peppy lyrics and heavy riffs of Hey! Album, the major label debut of Marvelous3. The album has a surprisingly crisp sound, despite the apparent dichotomy between the band's power instrumentals and unabashedly poppy lyrics and up-beat vocals. For three guys with names like Butch and Slug who try very hard to look dark and disturbed, their music is often as light as a puffy cumulous cloud. The rhymes are often forced, thin and cheesy, but that does not prevent the vocals from bouncing along euphoniously. The album is catchy, interesting, and original, although far from revolutionary. Hey! Album is fueled almost exclusively by Walker, whose guitars and vocals are upfront and in-your-face on almost every track. Drummer Slug does little more than keep time for Walker, and Fincher's bass remains subdued throughout most of the album. Although Marvelous3 is power pop, they layer their music at points with vocal distortion, background sampling, an excellent Moog solo and creative piano arrangement. In addition, effective overlapping of Walker's omnipresent vocals disguises the thin ideas behind his most lyrics.