Every once in a while, you come across album’s that you CANNOT stop listening to. The album never gets old, and you can never get enough of it. Something about it grabs you in, and you cannot get out. This, my friends, is one of those rare albums that do that to me, and hopefully you if you pick it up.
First let me start off by saying, these guys (and girls!) are in no way, shape or form, experts at their instruments. They do, on the other hand, know how to write some of the best punk rock (and even ska) songs in the whole genre. The ska and reggae tracks on the album may be the strongest part of the CD. The two ska and reggae tracks on this release are ‘Rudy’ and ‘D.J.’ Both are exceptionally great. Both of the songs contain all the things that you love to hear in ska and reggae tracks. Melodic harmonies, bouncy bass lines, upstroke guitar, and of course, the blaring horns.
Following the trend from the first release, they have many humorous songs, that make you giggle. Possibly the most random track that I have heard in my whole life, ‘Grandma is a Nazi’ also takes first place in the funniest song that I have ever heard in my life as well. The title says all. Cantaloupes is also another HILARIOUS song. The lyrics are something for anybody with a dirty sense of humor to listen to.
“Johnny Woke up this morning, he felt kind of weird
His nuts swelled over night!
He went to scratch his dicky beard
Now he’s got balls the size of cantaloupes!”
Humorous songs make any CD that much better. It shows a different side of the members. That being said, not everything is fun and games. It can’t be. It has to stop somewhere. The song ‘Stand and Deliver’ is a song for the troops serving our country
“Early in the morning,
In the darkest night
They protect our freedom
They protect our rights!”
Songs like ‘Shoulda Known Better’, ‘Let Me Go’ and ‘Skinhead’ are all songs which show Lenny’s talent for writing punk rock songs. He makes sure that every song is a song that everybody can sing along to. Even if you hadn’t heard the CD previously, you will know the majority of the lyrics to all of the songs after one listen. In other words, he makes the songs easy to follow, and he makes them extremely catchy. He has a knack for some of the lyrics that I have ever heard in all of the punk genre.
The thing that I like the best about this album is the mix. Musically, the punk song (which makes up the majority of them) are fantastic, and the two ska and reggae influenced tracks round it out very nicely. What I haven’t touched on yet is the mix of seriousness in songs and humor in songs. The previous release ’22 Songs That You’ll Never Wanna Hear Again’ was almost completely full of funny tracks. This CD has its share of funny and fast punk rock songs, but it also has a few very serious tracks. The song ‘Give Up Dope’ is a song about a friend who dies of drug abuse. Musically, the song isn’t very impressive, but the lyrics and story of the song is nice. I respect them for showing all of us a more emotional side of themselves.
I listen to this CD frequently, since it’s one of those rare instances where I cannot stop listening to it. While I listened to it, I realized that this is the most satisfying CD I have listened to in a while. I came to the conclusion that there is nothing more pleasing than a CD that fuses together multiple genres, and can be both humorous and serious. It makes for a great mix.
