January 21st, 2005 will forever be known as Black Friday by myself, and others who were affected by the breakup of Hey Mercedes as hard as I was. While it took me some time to warm up to the group due to my post-Braid depression, I've spent the past few years criss-crossing the Midwest to see the band's fantastic live show over and over, each time enjoying them more and more. If you haven't yet listened to Hey Mercedes, here's a selection of audio from throughout their catalog:

Hey Mercedes EP (Polyvinyl, 2000)
Bells Everynight Fire Works (Vagrant, 2001)
Que Shiraz Eleven To Your Seven Every Turn Our Weekend Starts On Wednesday A-List Actress [clip] The Weekend EP (Vagrant, 2002)
Save A Life Everybody's Working For The Weak Loses Control (Vagrant, 2003)
Quality Revenge At Last Knowing When To Stop It's Been A Blast The Switch

Now, this is just the tip of the iceberg on Hey Mercedes. Tracks like "Que Shiraz" (posted above courtesy of Cloak And Dagger Media), "Stay Six" and "Roulette Systems" are unarguably the best in the band's catalog; but you'll just have to buy the records for those.