Tuesday, December 23, 2008

CHARGE!! Review!!!

Quick news first:
1.Sadly, my posting will be limited until the 3rd of January, because of the holidays and going away for vacation. Hopefully me wrist (and ankle) will recouperate.

2. I will try to finish the third tier before I have to go back the 26th of January, as well as a couple songs from Tier 4. They're getting harder now, so now's the time to buckle down. In an effort to post more frequent updates, I'll post song sections as opposed to whole songs.

3. My choice for Tier 4 DLC is one of my little brother's favorite songs, "Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)" by Coheed and Cambria. Reader's Choice DLC picks to come soon.
SETLIST UPDATED

4. Finished putting up the Rock Band 2: The Stars recap. So, check that out.

5. The song I was working on for the Rock Revolution contest is still being worked on.

Now, onto the review:
Picked this one up for $8 at FYE.

I actually found out about The Aquabats (I refuse to use the exclamation points), via a Something Awful webcomic thread. Their TV show pilot surfaced on BoingBoing, and I don't remember what they thought of it, but I shook it off in favor of hilarity. On a wild hair one day, decided to check them out, and liked what I heard. But oddest of all was their superhero "background".

The Goon in me thought "What? Bunch of loving manchildren, trying zany monkeycheese poo poo. That's as gay as gently caress." (Without the filter: "Bunch of fucking manchildren, trying zany monkeycheese shit. That's as gay as fuck")
It's more or less pop-punk, and pop anything is TOTALLY GAY.
AND BATS CAN'T SWIM UNDERWATER

But I'm sure they don't care, and keep plucking along.

Gun to my head, if I were to describe it, I'd say it's like a very upbeat bastard child of the Dead Kennedys and the B52's. Which is apporpriate, given the fact that the lead singer kinda sounds like Bifara and the male vocals on "Love Shack". It's a little punky, little (bit more) poppy, little surf, little synth.

It gets a bit repetitive, most of the songs stick to the same few chords (it is punk after all), but unlike AC/DC there aren't the trademark solos. But after reading a review in my school's paper of their B.B. King's show, it's geared a bit toward "kids", so such a thing is to be expected. And by "kids" I mean it's accessible to kids (more than an AC/DC or Boston, or metal), but just crazy enough to get you listening too.

It's upbeat, catchy, and puts you in a good mood. But I was actually embarrassed to buy this album, for the reasons my Goon side mentioned. The songs are pretty off the beaten path, with stuff about parodying the music scene ("Fashion Zombies!"), nerds rising up ("Nerd Alert"), and random crap ("Mechanical Ape", which I didn't like too much, "Tiger Rider").

BOTTOM LINE: If you've ever said "What The Fuck?" and laughed, at the very least give one of their Myspace songs a listen. The whole Saturday-morning cartoon superhero thing might shake off some people looking for something deeper and more mature but what do you expect from a band that has a song called "Demolition Rickshaw"? If you want something ridiculous, but still has actual entertainment value, give it a try.

P.S. The lead singer is the probably-drug-addled mind behind a children's show called Yo Gabba Gabba! The star of the show is a DJ that sometimes opens for their performances, and has been dubbed "Gay Russian Army Urkel" by Joel McHale of The Soup.

And I mentioned The Soup last post didn't I? IT ALL COMES TOGETHER.

God I gotta get back on the guitar.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Now scram, South Park's "Woodland Critter Chirstmas" episode is on.

No comments: