Marvelous 3 Hey! Album

by Eric Layton

On the cheekily-titled Hey! Album, Atlanta's Marvelous 3 delivers cheery, bombastic power pop that's in touch with its sensitive side. And this is a trio that you can tell is holding back laughter, if only to stay focused on their instrumentation, which is airtight throughout. (You'd be stifling chuckles, too, anticipating goofy lines like, "I feel like Bobby Brady breaking the vase.") This threesome may be derivative - shades of Cheap Trick, the Cars and many others are quite discernible - but singer-guitarist Butch Walker, bassist Jayce Fincher and drummer "Slug" are having a blast living their rock 'n' roll fantasy, and it shows in their music.

Love gone bad inspires much of the songwriting here. There's the deliciously rude kiss-off "You're So Yesterday," then the other side of the getting-dumped coin is explored on the melancholy acoustic ballad "Let Me Go." Walker's voice is generally crisp and full of personalities, most of them British: Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart and David Bowie are this frontman's obvious reference points. He's not shy with the harmonies, as evidenced on "Indie Queen," and lends his playful, raspy inflection to, um, marvelous effect on "Over Your Head." Meanwhile, his bandmates effectively keep the bottom end of their agreeable three-chord rock together.

Because of the tacit familiarity of its song dynamics, Hey! Album isn't always challenging. However, there's enough devil-may-care humor and infectious moments on this disc to make it worthwhile.