Return Of the Aquabats, the Aquabats!, 1996, :34
★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
These guys wear their pop culture nerdiness more openly on their sleeves than even MC Frontalot. This is nerd-ska, full of references to Star Wars and superheroes and Devo and play-doh and GI Joe, and that's just the first song. They're like They Might Be Giants, if the Johns had eschewed books, science, and cleverness and instead just watched a lot of cartoons and science fiction. I read that the drummer, guitarist, and keyboardist all left right after recording this album, and the surf-ska sound here later gave way to pop punk. So now I don't even have a good sense of what this band sounds like. Oddly, though I myself am a nerd, I am repelled by this album. I'm not enthralled by nostalgia for childhood cartoons or songs about Martian girls or five-and-a-half minute long songs about leaving a girl because her breath is bad. All of these are delivered with simplistic lyrics and a goofy, annoying Elvis-like "comedy" voice. Sample lyric: "Chewbacca! Chewbacca! Lake Titicaca! / Chewbacca's on a scooter man, holy crap!" Ugh. At 34 unbearable minutes, this album feels overlong. Reel Big Fish, I was too harsh on you. Favorite track: "Idiot Box." Least favorite track: "Pinch And Roll," a song about scratching your balls, with a bridge consisting of nonsense sung in a shitty fake Jamaican accent. Hilarious!
