Meyerman – Happy To See You

Meyerman first came onto the scene in 2011 with Who Do You Think You Are, a collection of smart, edgy power pop songs. I can still hear the loud, muscular guitars (think XTC’s Black Sea), killer hooks and the incredibly clever single “Loving Leash”. 

Despite a brand new lineup (after all, it’s been a dozen years between LPs), the heart of Meyerman’s sound hasn’t changed a whole lot. It’s still Buzzcocks meets The Beatles. Just as before, Kurt Reil (The Gripweeds) is behind the engineer’s desk. But on Happy To See You, the songs are even tighter, the guitars even more demonstrative and the writing as clever as ever.

Much like my favorite Buzzcocks album, Meyerman’s new one feels like a collection of killer A sides. The vocal snarl, ringing power chords and undeniably catchy chorus make the title track feel very much like something Pete Shelley & Steve Diggle would have approved of. “WWDAT” is another catchy tune with one foot in 2023 and the other back in the British Invasion. 

Who let the dog out?

Every band should have a theme song but most are too pretentious for that. Not these guys. “Meyerman” (the song) is a great bit of fun with playful lyrics and instrumentation harkening back to Revolver. I’m not one for solos but Robert Sadowski’s guitar work here is great fun. It’s almost as if the band decided to get the dog (played by Robert) all jacked up on caffeine and then let him loose just to see what he’d do.

“Nova” makes great use of a refrain the Beatles made famous – and yet no one has used it in exactly this way before. The album finishes with perhaps its best song, “Handclaps And Tambourines”. It’s infectiously catchy and sobering at the same time. But then nobody will pay attention to the lyrics anyway.

Meyermman are: Theo Meyer (guitars and vocals), Jeff Preischel (bass, vocals), Robert Sadowski (guitars, lead guitars, vocals) and Danny Diaz (drums).

Pre-order Happy To See You

This is one you don’t want to miss. Set for release on 7/15/23, you can preorder Meyerman’s Happy To See You at their Bandcamp page. Stay tuned for a record release party some time later this summer.

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