You Had Me At Hello! (YHMAH) are a pop-punk quartet from Keighley, West Yorkshire who cite Blink 182 and The Offspring among their main influences.
To absorb the US state of mind they went to Ventura, California to record the six songs on this debut EP with local rockers Army Of Freshmen. Chris Jay, lead singer of that band, guests on the track Pull That Trigger.
YHMAH is not so great a band name. It originates from a line in the Jerry Maguire movie which has also inspired schmaltzy songs from Kenny Chesny, Bon Jovi, A Day To Remember and Beyonce as well as another pop band (now defunct) from High Wycombe. On a heavier note it was adopted as the album title for hardcore punks Bury Your Dead.
The half dozen songs here are an no holds barred energy rush with words not so much sung as spat out with a mixture of venom and disdain.
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The lyric sheet reveals that attitude (impatience/determination/petulance) is more important than subtle wordplay.
Breathless, for example, has a chorus that goes:"Turn away I don't want to see your face, wo oh uhoo, wo oh uhoo, wo oh uhoo." while Pull That Trigger ends with the line "Bah bah, bah ba da bah".
The tunes therefore seem tailor-made for a drunken sing along session rather than intended as a sober listening experience. As I'm more of a patisserie kind of guy I'll pass if it's all the same to you.
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