You know how it is after a relationship ends and you're back on the market again: You want to run out and make out with the first person you can talk into the situation. And, true to the first law of rebound-hookup dynamics, that sex-up is probably more about celebrating the spirit of your new arrangement as it is something of which you'll be extremely proud in the next few months.

After an 11-year marriage to the major labels, Reel Big Fish is celebrating its own independence, and, in the spirit of the new arrangement, delivers the aural equivalent of a rebound make-out session with Monkeys for Nothing and the Chimps for Free. Crashing into the studio like it's kissing a stranger after six shots of Jagermeister and re-recording a slew of never-released tracks rescued from obscurity, Reel Big Fish doesn't seem to be as interested in quality control as putting out in a jiffy. Hey, we've all been there. Usually, though, it's the sort of mistake that ends in weeks' worth of ribbing from friends and a lot of morning-after shame, not an album.

Essentially securing its position as a bargain-basement alternative to Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish doses up a string of songs that move from its signature third-wave ska, which, even with the mini-renaissance ska-punk enjoys on this year's Warped Tour, sounds impossibly dated. After that, the band moves into the prototypical post-ska, horn-amplified pop punk. Reel Big Fish was never at the top of the class (or even in the top 20 percent of its graduating class) at either sound, and does what it can to bolster its game with goofy ska-kid humor. Sometimes it works well enough to bring a smile to even the most jaded faces: "Everybody's Drunk" is just stupid enough to recall every totally stupid drinking-binge party you can very hazily remember, somehow imbibing it with enough raise-the-roof energy to make it seem entertaining instead of shameful. "Please Don't Tell Her I Have a Girlfriend" isn't quite as clever, but RBF chugs through power-pop arrangements that turn the pig-like tune into something semi-likable. The skanking-frenzy of "Will the Revolution Come" makes the band's punk-baiting lyrics seem a little giddy, though "Why Do All Girls Think They're Fat" sticks out as an immature effort, even in the sea of juvenile punk-humor tracks.

Reel Big Fish's songwriting's held together by its snotty humor, and when it fails -- or, inevitably, the funny wears off -- it's hard to take Monkeys for Nothing and the Chimps for Free as anything more than frat-humor gone stale. RBF isn't strong enough to make its pop sizzle or its ska yank you onto the dance floor, a fact that's painfully apparent in the half of this album's songs where humor fizzles from the get go ("The New Version of You," "Another F.U. Song," "My Imaginary Friend").

Reel Big Fish is out of the clutches of its insane ex, er, major-label contract, and is living it up irresponsibly and churning out an album without having to try too hard. You know how it goes. It's sort of fun to rebound. Now, though, it's time to quit dragging up long-buried songs and focus on the future.

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Readers' Reviews
Average Reader Rating:

Rating:

this person dont know anything about RBF

posted by kc on Oct 02, 2007

Rating:

What a horrible review of a very catchy and fun album. Compared to Cheer Up and WNHTYNH, this album is everything RBF fans have been asking for: Fun songs, less angst. To compare RBF as a sub-par LTJ is atrocious: Did you not HEAR Anthem or In with the Out Crowd? Jesus.

posted by Marky on Aug 11, 2007

Rating:

Hey, doesn't live up to the greatness of Turn the Radio Off, or Why Do They Rock So Hard, but still better than We're Not Happy.

posted by 3D on Aug 11, 2007