Issue date: 3/27/09 Section: The Verge

A simplistic sound seems to be what Dazy Head Mazy was going for, but the band overstayed its welcome and left us with something simply generic.

Dazy Head Mazy's fifth studio album, "Mercury Said 65," proves to be a common form of jam band that is heard far too often.

The Minnesota trio has conjured up a sound quite similar to Hootie and the Blowfish and O.A.R, without the long intervals of what can be described as quality jamming.

The problem is in lead vocalist, Will Bauermeister.

Bauermeister produces a narrow voice range and childish rhymes.

Most of the tracks follow the same repetitive structure with choruses that are beaten into your head.

Take the track "Troy Wants to Talk Now."

The song describes a friend, Troy, who believes he is always correct in his thoughts.

The chorus goes as follows, "Everybody quiet cuz Troy wants to talk now/ Be quiet Troy wants to talk now/ Everybody quiet cuz Troy wants to talk now."

Between the redundancy and repetitiveness lie a couple of tracks that catch you by surprise. "Kweneneka," for example, is a song about a man with a "good friend" who gets into an argument with his girlfriend.

The lyrics state, "Kweneneka said this to my face/ They love you the way you are/ Everyone's gonna take your side/ Just because you play the guitar."

Another track, "3 Different Shades of Beautiful" is memorable and written elegantly. "She's three different shades of beautiful/ Three different shades of wonderful/ And I'm going to marry you/ Three different shades of beautiful."

The lyrics don't sound like much, but Bauermeister makes up for it in an acoustic rendition as a hidden track after "Underwear." In this version, Bauermeister plays solo and acoustic, which may be the highlight of the instrumentation on the album.

Also to be noted is the harmonica player, Bruce Johnson, featured on various tracks.

Johnson's style is smooth and bluesy, fusing the feel-good times Bauermeister often sings about.

Other members of the band include Jason Lyles on drums and Eric Moe on bass guitar. These two members sit in as background throughout the album too frequently. It would be nice to hear a jam band that would go into jams every once and a while.

The styles and makings of a talented pop jam band are certainly seen within this album, but it seems as though Dazy Head Mazy showed us an album yet to be finished.

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