Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Album Review: Reel Big Fish - Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps for Free
Reel Big Fish: Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps for Free
[Rock Ridge 2007]
6/10
For more than 15 years, Reel Big Fish has endured the fall of ska punk’s mainstream popularity in the 90’s and now continues to sell out concert venues with a fun, exciting, and hilarious live act. All along the way, the band’s mainstay has been the use of adolescent satire, sarcasm and extensive humor in their lyrics and overall image. It is hard to keep such a reputation up, however, and through their string of quality hit ska albums and their pessimistic downturn We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy, their 2007 effort does a decent job at keeping the band relevant. That said, Monkeys would probably rate in the bottom rung of RBF albums due to some particularly weak tracks and “party” songs that lack many true ska elements and come across as incredibly contrived and brainless by the band’s standards.
The first half of the album consists of new songs written over a three-week gap between tour dates. Unfortunately, despite the claim that the band described the process as relaxing and the fact that the band is now free from the conflicts of their old record company Jive Records, the short time period for composing the songs shows. While “My Imaginary Friend,” “Slow Down,” “Will the Revolution Come?”, and the clever cover of Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise” sound great with catchy choruses and bouncy rhythms, other songs bring down the album by relying on bottom-barrel clichés.
The opener “Party Down” is, as the title suggests, the ultimate partying song on the album which becomes quite tiresome and annoying very quickly. The song incorporates musical snippets lampooning various genres like disco, country, reggae, and heavy metal, but the gag is performed far more humorously when the band plays “S.R.” (from their 1996 Turn the Radio Off album) in concert in various musical genres and styles. Alongside “Party Down,” the absolutely filthy “Another F.U. Song” and the trashy drinking anthem “Everybody’s Drunk” take the band’s foul sense of humor to embarrassing extremes, even for long-time fans.
The rest of the album consists of re-recordings of older tunes that overall make the second half of the album more ska-oriented than the first, but there are few standouts. RBF’s most produced and polished album to date includes four re-recordings from the band’s least produced and polished album, their 1995 debut Everything Sucks. Among these, “Hate You,” one of the best songs on Monkeys, and “Why Do All Girls Think They’re Fat?” characterize the vitriolic and farcical punk attitude that was most present in the band’s early releases. I wish the rest of the album sounded more like this, as these two songs in particular seem to reflect unique satires and joking adolescent observations from actual adolescents. Instead, the band, including lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Aaron Barrett at age 33, seems to be progressing by repeating the mantras and jokes of past albums while steering the band away from evident ska-influences into more straight-forward, upbeat party rock.
Besides the quality of the music, the fact that Reel Big Fish is still together after all these years, even with a revolving door of band members and record company battles, is very impressive. Now that the band has more creative freedom under an independent record company, future releases should be expected to more reflect the band’s current musical ambitions than other recent albums. Judging from their accomplished track record, this can yield excellent records. In Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps for Free, however, even in being an album of one-half new and one-half re-recorded material, the band comes dangerously close to becoming a caricature of themselves.
The first half of the album consists of new songs written over a three-week gap between tour dates. Unfortunately, despite the claim that the band described the process as relaxing and the fact that the band is now free from the conflicts of their old record company Jive Records, the short time period for composing the songs shows. While “My Imaginary Friend,” “Slow Down,” “Will the Revolution Come?”, and the clever cover of Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise” sound great with catchy choruses and bouncy rhythms, other songs bring down the album by relying on bottom-barrel clichés.
The opener “Party Down” is, as the title suggests, the ultimate partying song on the album which becomes quite tiresome and annoying very quickly. The song incorporates musical snippets lampooning various genres like disco, country, reggae, and heavy metal, but the gag is performed far more humorously when the band plays “S.R.” (from their 1996 Turn the Radio Off album) in concert in various musical genres and styles. Alongside “Party Down,” the absolutely filthy “Another F.U. Song” and the trashy drinking anthem “Everybody’s Drunk” take the band’s foul sense of humor to embarrassing extremes, even for long-time fans.
The rest of the album consists of re-recordings of older tunes that overall make the second half of the album more ska-oriented than the first, but there are few standouts. RBF’s most produced and polished album to date includes four re-recordings from the band’s least produced and polished album, their 1995 debut Everything Sucks. Among these, “Hate You,” one of the best songs on Monkeys, and “Why Do All Girls Think They’re Fat?” characterize the vitriolic and farcical punk attitude that was most present in the band’s early releases. I wish the rest of the album sounded more like this, as these two songs in particular seem to reflect unique satires and joking adolescent observations from actual adolescents. Instead, the band, including lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Aaron Barrett at age 33, seems to be progressing by repeating the mantras and jokes of past albums while steering the band away from evident ska-influences into more straight-forward, upbeat party rock.
Besides the quality of the music, the fact that Reel Big Fish is still together after all these years, even with a revolving door of band members and record company battles, is very impressive. Now that the band has more creative freedom under an independent record company, future releases should be expected to more reflect the band’s current musical ambitions than other recent albums. Judging from their accomplished track record, this can yield excellent records. In Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps for Free, however, even in being an album of one-half new and one-half re-recorded material, the band comes dangerously close to becoming a caricature of themselves.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Video: "Turnover" by Fugazi
This doesn't happen anymore. Maybe I'm never in the right place at the right time, but I don't think so. Local D.C. legends Fugazi playing Lafayette Park in 1991 (i.e. Bush 1's front yard across Pennsylvania Ave.) to protest the first gulf war. Fugazi were all about cheap (if not free), all-ages shows and being all inclusive not just for D.C. kids but for everywhere around the world they played. But really, modern punk legends playing an uncommercialized PROTEST gig at the seat of power. You don't see shows like this much anymore, and it brings to my mind notions of political authenticity in music and the state of music as a unsettled balance of craft, expression, and capitalism, and... yea other stuff. Also, it rocks.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Album Review: Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Green River
[Fantasy 1969]
9/10
Creedence Clearwater Revival is the sound of hot, humid summer nights in the south sitting (or should I say “sittin’”) on the front porch and basking in the moonlight. The music seems to reflect life in the deep country backwoods with chugging rhythms, rock-steady beats and the vocal howl of John Fogerty as wild and free as the great outdoors. CCR turned out a string of roots rock hits that steered clear of many of the psychedelic music influences prevalent in the late ‘60s, and 1969’s Green River is widely considered to be the band’s first classic album.
Clocking in at a mere 29 minutes, Green River shows the band moving away from the extended jam sessions of previous albums and focusing on the short, direct, radio-friendly hit without losing any of their roots rock steam. Opener “Green River” sets the scene for rural americana perfectly: “Walkin’ along the river road at night / Barefoot girls dancin’ in the moonlight.” Its infectious beats, rock-and-roll-meets-country-twang guitar riff and the celebration of country life over ruination in the big city are all prevalent throughout Green River. Namely, “Commotion” begins with a loud guitar riff and warm harmonica that make it one of the album’s best and a honky-tonk classic.
Not surprisingly, one of the best songs on the album is the radio-staple “Bad Moon Rising.” A short, upbeat, and energetic burst of country charm, Fogerty lets his voice echo with commanding power. But for perhaps the best technical work on the album, “Lodi,” the story of hitting rock bottom in a dead end town, features the most imaginative and memorable guitar riff on the album that brings pleasant melodicism to ease the impact of Fogerty’s melancholy. “Cross-Tie Walker” is another testament to the band’s technical skill, with a great prominent bass line courtesy of Stu Cook and the always steady drumming and rhythm guitar of Doug Clifford and Tom Fogerty, respectively.
Clocking in at a mere 29 minutes, Green River shows the band moving away from the extended jam sessions of previous albums and focusing on the short, direct, radio-friendly hit without losing any of their roots rock steam. Opener “Green River” sets the scene for rural americana perfectly: “Walkin’ along the river road at night / Barefoot girls dancin’ in the moonlight.” Its infectious beats, rock-and-roll-meets-country-twang guitar riff and the celebration of country life over ruination in the big city are all prevalent throughout Green River. Namely, “Commotion” begins with a loud guitar riff and warm harmonica that make it one of the album’s best and a honky-tonk classic.
Not surprisingly, one of the best songs on the album is the radio-staple “Bad Moon Rising.” A short, upbeat, and energetic burst of country charm, Fogerty lets his voice echo with commanding power. But for perhaps the best technical work on the album, “Lodi,” the story of hitting rock bottom in a dead end town, features the most imaginative and memorable guitar riff on the album that brings pleasant melodicism to ease the impact of Fogerty’s melancholy. “Cross-Tie Walker” is another testament to the band’s technical skill, with a great prominent bass line courtesy of Stu Cook and the always steady drumming and rhythm guitar of Doug Clifford and Tom Fogerty, respectively.
The album closes on what are unfortunately two subpar (to CCR’s considerably high standards, that is) songs, the clichéd bad boy tune “Sinister Purpose” and “The Night Time is the Right time,” a cover of a 1954 blues song by Nappy Brown. While the former passes through with little fanfare and Fogerty’s least convincing vocal performance, the latter’s fragmented, sexual theme doesn’t really fit alongside Fogerty’s original, narrative portrayals of country life.
As the lead singer and creative force of the band, John Fogerty wrote songs whose often dark subject matters, including looming death, sin, and hopelessness were in part obscured by the steady rock rhythms that infused poppy guitar riffs and boogie grooves. In doing this, Fogerty and the rest of CCR became a smart, radio-ready hitmaker, and Green River is CCR’s first album to showcase this. For all the commercial and critical achievements of the album, in its most basic terms, it is an undeniably good time.
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