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Music Review:
Reel Big Fish - Cheer Up
Artist: Reel Big Fish
Album: Cheer Up! (2002)
Label: Jive
Genre: Punk/Ska/Alternative
Release Date: July 2002 |
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This CD Rocks!
Why did I miss out on this band the
first couple of times through? How could I have been so naive to miss
one of the most intriguing and entertaining bands this side of The
Bloodhound Gang? That question may never be answered, but what has been
shown to me is one of the greatest CDs I own, and while some may pass
them off as two-bit performers in a world surrounded by the Brittney's
and the Christina's, Reel Big Fish and their latest album Cheer Up!
is a pleasure to listen to.
The CD brings you in with the first
single "Where Have You Been?" that introduces you to the band in a way
any well knowing record exec would. Throw a pop-like track on the radio
and draw in the kiddies, and this song does just that. With a more
mellow tone than the rest of the CD, "Where Have You Been?" has just the
right formula to draw in fans, and draw in fans it does.
"The best part of this CD
is the lasting quality of the songs. Each has its own unique flavor that
makes theme completely sing-able..."
What most people don't see is the rest of the disc is just as
good, if not better, than the first single. With the overtone of
dateless, loser type twentysomething prevalent on most of the
album "Suckers," which deals with people who still believe in
true love, "We Are the Dateless Losers," doesn't really need too
much explanation, and "Valerie," which the band relives a very
one-sided relationship. Funnier songs come in the form "Ban the
Tube Top," and "Rock n Roll Is Bitchin'" as well as the acapella
"New York, New York."
The more
serious stuff finds its way onto the album in the afore mentioned "Where
Have You Been," that details a long lost girlfriend trying to come back
to a man she left for another, "Brand New Hero," and "Drunk Again." Each
of these songs changes up the CD to keep things fresh and new.
The best
part of this CD is the lasting quality of the songs. Each has its own
unique flavor that makes theme completely sing able, and completely
enjoyable for the 50th time you listen to the CD. With such style and
finesse as Reel Big Fish have, it is very good to know this CD won't be
collecting dust after the first few listens. If it were a cassette, I
would have already gone through two by now.
Don't do
what I did, jump into Cheer Up! with with both feet and enjoy
what music can be in the twenty first century.
- Erich Becker needs to
Cheer Up!
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