Senor Happy

Señor Happy wants to apologize. So much so, they named their album I’m Sorry. What for, you ask? Mostly that it just took so long to make another great record and I’m Sorry looks to make amends for the wait.

Señor Happy’s first release, the critically acclaimed Señor Happy, came out back in the fall of 1998. Nominated as best debut local album by the Boston Music Awards, the album was pegged by CMJ as having an “uncanny, unpretentious knack for affable hooks, and each song, loaded with passionate, grungy riffs, ends quickly and knocks you on your keester.”

For the next year or two, the band -- with core members Derek Schanche (lead vocals, guitar), Joe McMahon (bass, vocals), and Tom Polce (drums, vocals) -- toured regionally, supporting acts like Walt Mink, Red Red Meat, The Figgs, and American Hi-Fi.

So what took them so long to make number 2? The phrase “scheduling conflicts” comes to mind: bassist Joe McMahon and drummer Tom Polce are possibly the two busiest musicians in Boston. Currently playing in eight bands combined, they’ve been involved in the recording of twenty-five or so records over the last couple of years. “I try to do as much music as possible because it's what I love to do; it’s what makes me happy . I've been fortunate enough to make music with a lot of very talented musicians, and I'm really humbled and honored to play with this band”, remarked Polce, who also plays drums with label-mates Loveless and Bill Janovitz & Crown Victoria.

Meanwhile, Derek Schanche wrote. He penned dozens of new songs, and then honed them down to the 11 tracks that make up I’m Sorry. Though outwardly affable and easygoing, Schanche’s quiet intensity is what sets Senor Happy apart from what might be called the “typical Boston rock sound.” His haunting vocal delivery, reminiscent of Belinda Butcher from My Bloody Valentine, and his veiled and slightly unsettling lyrics are what create the texture of the band’s sound.

When he delivers the line in “Drowning” - amidst its gorgeous backdrop of flugelhorn and synthesized string section “drowning isn’t safe unless it’s love fading outward” – you aren’t entirely sure what he’s talking about but you feel saddened just the same. Says Derek, “I wrote that song the first time I picked up a baritone guitar–the song’s lyrics are a comparison between Amelia Earhart’s death and a singer of a rock band who questions his love/hate relationship with his music.”

I’m Sorry, co-produced by Mike Denneen (Fountains of Wayne, Howie Day, Loveless) and band member Polce, will be released July 6th on Q Division Records. The first side of the record unapologetically bashes the listener over the head with four straight-up rockers, harkening back to the indie-rock aesthetic of early Guided By Voices melded with the power of AC/DC on the rave up “Get Up and Go Out” before careening into beautiful ballads on side two like “Drowning” and “30 West and Vine” – the latter recounting the day of a funeral and the life of an old friend (to whom I’m Sorry is dedicated).