We're Not Happy 'til You're Not Happy

by

Reel Big Fish

Edit

Reel Big Fish's fifth studio album is mostly good, and even features some further "Cheer Up"-type tweaks to their sound and forays into different genres - - here they even give disco a shot - - but has a couple of tracks that are utterly uneccessary and hard to enjoy.

Overall, from track one, "The Fire," through track 13, "Say Goodbye," (the last track is pretty much a joke song, but an enjoyable one) most songs on this album stick to a few central ideas -- that Reel Big Fish frontman Aaron Barrett is tired of being in his band, that he feels they are a failure, and that he sees no real benefit to making music -- and express them through hooky, upbeat ska/rock/pop. That's why it's so confusing that track 2 is a song called "Drinkin'" that has to be the worst song Reel Big Fish has ever recorded. It sounds like a bunch of seventh graders wrote it using a "how to start a ska band" manual. Aaron's singing in it is grating, the lyrics are infuriatingly stupid ("If I go out drinking/then I can stop thinking"), and the horn line is about three notes. The nifty lead guitar riff at the beginning can't save this one. Also not needed on the album, but much better as stand-alone listening experiences, are two covers: Social Distortion's "Story of My Life," which would make a great b-side but sounds out of place here, and Tracy Chapman's "Revolution," which is enjoyable on one hand but utterly disrespectful to the heartfelt original on the other.

Fortunately, the rest of this album picks up where Reel Big Fish left off. "The Fire" is a ska song that should keep fans who found the last album less dancable happy, yet it still features two guitar tracks and a crunchy main guitar riff under the horn line that keeps up the "WDTRSH" and "Cheer Up" rock vibe going. "Don't Start A Band," while it could use a little more instrumental variety, is a fun little rocking mini-epic featuring dueling vocals by Aaron and backup singer Scott and explaining why every kid in his garage trying to start a ska band should just "give up now."

Track four, "A-W-E-S-O-M-E", may be the highlight of the album. It's only Reel Big Fish's second happy song. Apparently about the singer's new wife, it puts the phrases "You're everything I want in a girl" and "You're filled with hate" in the same thought, and does so over music that sounds like Huey Lewis and the News on speed. Wonderful!

Other great moments: the cover of Morrisey's "We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successful," where unlike the other covers, RBF seems to "get it" even more than the original; "The Joke's On Me," a catchy new-wave song with a synthesizer that declares "life's a joke and the joke's on me"; "Last Show," a disco-punk -- yes, disco-punk -- song that joyfully imagines the end of Reel Big Fish while perhaps also bashing a former member; and "Say Goodbye," which sounds like it could be on second album TTRO, except for the slightly 80s-sounding guitars.

11/14 tracks on this CD are exceptional, and it is a nice touch that keyboards (organ or synth) are used on every track. This band has always put depressing lyrics over peppy music, but there is something about this effort that sounds even more bitter and truly ready to give up. If they decide not to release another album, this is not a bad way to go out.

so i feel an obligation to give the long-time rbf fans out there a warning. after reading all the positive reviews about this cd i went out and bought it. i've been a die-hard fan for the past 9 years or however long, and they've gotten me thru a lot over the years.

i'm sad to say that this cd just feels a little hurried, bitter, and not as musically-sound as their others. it's not very well done and it just seems like a huge step down from cheer up and why do they rock so hard. if i would have randomly heard one of the songs on the radio, i'm not even sure i would be able to tell it's actually rbf. the vocal style has changed and they're not as good as they were. I hesitate to compare, but the cd quality reminds me of that horrible "everything sucks" cd that came out at the same time as "why do they rock so hard".

I'm not saying don't go out and buy it, because all true reel big fish cds should continue to support them. I'll keep buying everything they put out. I've been a musician my whole life and played in college on scholarship, and to all the musicians out there, do not get your hopes up on this cd.

The covers are good. Buy the cd and give it a chance, but let's all hope they give us another cd sometime soon that sounds like they're not heading in this direction. The worst part of my year this year was getting my hopes up at a new RBF cd and then buying this and realizing that I'll probably never listen to it again.