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.
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.