Hey Hey Do It Anyway

Description

MAXTONE FOUR HEY HEY DO IT ANYWAY STREET DATE: June 12, 2007 MAXIMUM TONE FIDELITY RECORDS The album cover of St. Louis-based Maxtone Fours long-awaited sophomore release, Hey Hey Do It Anyway-taken from a 60s Spanish pharmaceutical poster-was the last piece of a musical puzzle that the band began assembling three years ago. The posters text, floating over the shoulder of a mod worker bee drifting off at her typewriter, translates as: quot;Sick? No, Tired,quot; an image singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist Brian McClelland felt best summed up the quartets mindset-within the band and their personal lives-at the time these songs came together in late 2004. The cheerfully chugging guitar pop on the surface of these 11 tracks often masks seen-it-all, bittersweet lyrics-including sun-drenched but surprisingly wary missives on the original music scene (quot;Just Say I Knowquot;), soul-sucking jobs (the analog synth-assisted audience fave inspired by McClellands day job as a 911 dispatcher, quot;I Fucking Hate This Placequot;), and friends that get old way too fast (quot;Parentheticquot;). quot;The irony,quot; reveals McClelland, quot;is that, two years later, the band has never been more fun-and its never sounded better or more confident.quot; He adds that much of that has to do with the reformation of the current lineup (bassist/designated trou dropper Chris Clark has returned after a busy year sabbatical that saw him playing in several original local projects and an ongoing gig with the St. Louis-based blues outfit the Little David Band.) and his long-time friendships with lead guitarist Mike Hellebusch and rock steady drummer Jeremy Miller. But McClelland explains that it wasnt only Hellebuschs driving guitars that helped shape the record. quot;Mike saved this band twice: when he joined us two years ago-wed been increasingly burnt out at the time, and Mikes involvement made playing in the band fun again-and when he offered to move this stalled recording project to his home studio and virtually take it over. Otherwise thered be no new record.quot; Also in their corner during pre-production was one of McClellands favorite St. Louis-based rock stars, Joe Thebeau (Finns Motel, AOK, the Finns). Thebeaus main focus was helping tighten or refocus lyrics and-in quot;Just Say I Knowquot; and quot;OK You Go Firstquot;-adding some fun melodic twists, including the music for the formers (and the albums) ascending chord intro and the latters sweet A minor chorus turnaround. McClelland spent much of his downtime between Hey Heys recording sessions performing and recording with fellow St. Louis skinny tie popsters Tight Pants Syndrome (an experience he says quot;really upped my game, vocally and melodically, which is having a nice crossover effect with the Maxtone tunesquot;), as well as working up material for another project covering an indie-r terrain, Whoa, Thunder!, described by McClelland as quot;girl/boy skittery mod pop for cats.quot; Adding, quot;Ive been stockpiling songs for the last two years, so at this point Im just figuring out which song goes where.quot; The bands upcoming live dates-their first performances in over a year, including a May 25th date at St. Louis Duck Room being taped for broadcast (and DVD release) by STLs The Set -will feature the debut of a new, yet-to-be recorded surf-rock shuffle called quot;Ultimately Baby.quot; New to the audience, anyway-McClelland first submitted the song to his bandmates two years ago. At that time they had decided not to work up any new material until they wrapped producti