Love You Gone

Sadly, you have probably heard by now about the disbanding of Hey Mercedes. It is an unfortunate event to witness when a favorite band breaks up. Gabe and I have had to experience it several times over the last few years. The Great Casket Lottery scare back in the day nearly tipped the scales, but I think the harshest we have had to cope with recently has been Small Brown Bike’s dismantling. But this…this is a blow without recourse.
Hey Mercedes was a band like no other. They did not boast the popularity of The Get Up Kids, or the fame of Saves the Day, and they most certainly did not rake in the money like numerous other Vagrant bands. But, if I have noticed one singular assessment among their loyal fan base over the course of their breakup, it has been the respectful
acknowledgement that they had class. Hey Mercedes belonged in the pages of The New Yorker. Their dialogue seemed to fit right in step with the picturesque pentameter of famous authors such as Schickler and Salinger. Groups like Saves the Day waxed pre-pubescent anguish over girls they had met in High School. Hey Mercedes was the band that spent its evenings in the smoky parlor over a few lamented tales of bitterness and revenge. They were easily one of the best groups of musicians to grace my collection from the moment of their conception, and they will be missed.