When I saw that the band had donned exclamation marks on the end of their band name, CD title, and every single track – I thought that this album may consist of some forced ‘wacky’ antics by the band. Luckily I was wrong and once again The Aquabats have come up trumps in producing a CD if true greatness. Some say that they don’t like this CD because it sees the band drop their horns and in doing so drop the ‘Ska.’ The thing is, The Aquabats never really have been a Ska band – they are just a fun band singing about issues such as being a nerd. ‘Nerd Alert’ is testament to this and is a cracking track that will put a huge smile on your face as soon as it begins to play.
There are many great tracks on display on this album such as the tremendous ‘Fashion Zombies!’ the incredible ‘Stuck in a Movie!’ and other such classics as ‘Hot Summer Nights (Wont Last Forever) and ‘Awesome Forces.’ Although the horns are now long gone, the band have replaced them with some awesome synthesizers and as a result their sound does not lose out at all from them losing the horns. On display on this album are some fine bass lines, awesomely tuned guitar riffs, some superb drum work, and as ever the obligatory amazing vocals with even better lyrics. A fine example of the bands greatly amusing lyrics can be seen in track ‘Look At Me, I’m A Winner!’ If you are a fan of the band then its tracks such as this and ‘Fashion Zombies!’ that you will want to be checking out as they are definite Aquabats classics that will be remembered for some years to come.
I have always been a great fan of this band and this album merely furthers my love of the band. After listening to this incredible album my fandom of the band does not at all diminish, with the album leaving me with a huge grin on my face. The use of synthesizer on this album gives the band a really retro Nintendo style feel and this is by no means a bad thing. This is a fun and upbeat album and will surely be the soundtrack of the summer with its fast, exciting tempo and general happy, summery feel. This album has a gloss of furious upbeat fun, and although it’s not going to be to everyone’s taste – those it does appeal to should be truly amazed by this brand new Aquabats album.
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.
