With its shaggy "ooh-woo-ooh" opening, The Maine's "Happy" immediately brings up visions of Pavement and Weezer. The Arizona band's latest single bleeds 1994 vibes, from its downer lyrics to the mid-tempo BPM to the downstroked chorus chords. The new track's not a major sonic departure from the rock anthems of the band's 2011 set, Pioneer, but they do sound especially bummed for a song called "Happy": "This ain't a fairy tale, and I don't think I'll ever be happy," John O'Callaghan sings. Later, he adds, "No, I am not smiling" -- just so we're 100 percent clear about that song title. A '90s pro tip: Irony was kind of a big deal.
Listen to The Maine's "Happy" after the jump.
The last time we heard from the Maine, they were taking on the '80s with a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" -- now it's nice to hear them updating their time machine. The band got some help from producer Brendan Benson of the Raconteurs, who knows a thing or two about mixing rock fuzz with pop smarts. The Maine's new album, Forever Halloween, is due June 4 with an indie release on Eighty One Twenty Three.
