Milwaukee, WI · emo · indie rock

Hey Mercedes

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Born from the ashes of Braid, Bob Nanna's hookier follow-up — sharp, wordy emo with real pop instincts. A reunion for the turn-of-the-millennium emo faithful.

Hey Mercedes formed in Chicago and Milwaukee at the end of 1999, after the breakup of the Champaign, Illinois band Braid. Singer and guitarist Bob Nanna, bassist Todd Bell and drummer Damon Atkinson carried over from that group, and guitarist Mark Dawursk, formerly of Alligator Gun, completed the lineup in April 2000 after auditions. The four lived apart, with Nanna commuting between the two cities to practice.

The band recorded a four-track EP before it had a label, unable to afford a self-release, and eventually reached Polyvinyl through founder Matt Lunsford. Vagrant Records got in touch to congratulate them on the record, and Hey Mercedes signed with Vagrant by the end of 2000, after playing their first show that August and releasing the EP in September. The move made them one of the more widely heard names in the era's emo scene.

Their debut album, Everynight Fire Works, was recorded in two weeks during April 2001 with producer J. Robbins, who had also worked on Braid's final album, Frame & Canvas. A trademark dispute involving the Vagrant name and distribution problems pushed the release back from summer to October 23, 2001. The band toured behind it alongside Dashboard Confessional, Alkaline Trio, Saves the Day and Jets to Brazil.

Compared with Braid's angular, start-stop approach, Hey Mercedes leaned harder on melody: bright guitar lines, dense wordplay and choruses built for singing along, delivered with Nanna's slightly frayed voice up front. The group went quiet in the mid-2000s and has since reconvened for occasional shows.

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emoindie rock