Review: Hey Baby! Embrace the Buzz in Punk Anthem “Kids”

Hey Baby © Bin Blow
Hey Baby © Bin Blow
Hey Baby!’s anthemic sophomore single “Kids” is a refreshing explosion of juvenile freedom and carefree indulgence, an anthem to youth and a critique on society.

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Take the raw, uninhibited energies of The Sex Pistols and The Ramones, merge that with the undeniably cool temperaments of The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys, and out pops a band called “Hey Baby!” …Or so the story goes.

So what if we get drunk?
Can’t wait for death
We don’t give a damn
Living life just like
You live yours
The best you can
Listen: “Kids” – Hey Baby

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Some bands know just how to hit you. The Brisbane four-piece of Kacper Majchrowski (vocals & guitar), Sam Wilson (lead guitar), Daniel “Chicken” Chlonta (bass guitar & backing vocals) and Jaeger Brodie (drummer & backing vocals), Hey Baby! have a charismatic indie rock glow that instantly sets them apart. Coloring themselves as a “surf punk/garage” outfit, they like their music fast and furious, and they’re here to have a good time – but surely, you already knew that by their name?

Kids - Hey Baby!
Kids – Hey Baby!

Officially introducing themselves in 2017 with the beautifully cacophonic “1-800 WEED,” Hey Baby! have today followed up to their debut with sophomore single “Kids,” a refreshing explosion of juvenile freedom and carefree indulgence that is as much an anthem to our youth as it is a critique on society.

And if you ever try
To change us,
well you’re out of luck
Can’t you see that us kids,
we just
don’t give a f***!

“I think our new single highlights the fact that conventional education doesn’t really work for everyone, or correctly evaluates everyone’s intelligence,” frontman Kacper Majchrowski tells Atwood Magazine. “Some of my best friends didn’t continue with school, but at the same time they had such a clear grasp of the world and what’s going on.”

So what if we ain’t got not jobs
and we ain’t got no cars
We’re happy sittin’ here,
looking up and counting stars
Hey Baby © Don't Think Photography
Hey Baby © Don’t Think Photography

Jaeger Brodie’s relentless drumming keeps Hey Baby! on high as they bask in an eruption of their own devising. Rollicking guitars grab listeners by the ears as Majchrowski’s raspy croons invite us to join in the brawl. He describes “Kids” as a “nostalgic throwback” to the decadence of his youth – from drinking in the park to not needing to stress over a full-time job, and enjoying the power of strong friendships and deeper connections.

“Everything was new and everything was exciting, our lives were kind of chaotic, and we didn’t know what we were doing or what we wanted to do. But, that situation kept us on our toes and had its own strange yet exhilarating buzz,” Majchrowski says. “We read and studied things that interested us, we played music or created art through other mediums, and we expanded our minds in a lot of other non-conventional ways. We weren’t dumb; we were just a bunch of kids having fun!”

We weren’t dumb; we were just a bunch of kids having fun!

Majchrowski’s resonating words hit twice as hard in the “Kids” chorus, a swift and fervent reminder that counterculture is only “counter” if someone makes it that way. “Kids” is a rejection of the mainstream, a very direct “F you!” to judgments and close-mindedness. Closing out their second song with a passionate guitar solo and some angsty, riled-up screams, Hey Baby! deliver an unforgettable performance the likes of which is seldom captured on record. Their music is memorable the first time around, infectiously catchy and dangerously volatile.

Whether they’re punk rock legends in the making or just a bunch of twenty-something kids having fun, Hey Baby! are tapped into a very special strain of music, and we cannot wait to hear more from this Atwood Magazine Artist to Watch. Look out for more as the Brisbane four-piece gear up for a debut EP in the second half of 2018, and throw a fist in the air for “Kids,” out now!

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:: stream/purchase “Kids” here ::

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Kids - Hey Baby!

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? © Bin Blow

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