Review Summary: A (sorta) refreshing (sorta) look upon pop culture from the last decade. Boys! Bring a girl (and a Fonzie) and get a free milkshake! (sorta)
Starting a band making covers is never, in any form, a good sign of success. These bands always end up playing at local pubs or rock clubs, feeling like rockstars, going to shіtty local war-of-the-bands and end up getting real jobs, disband, end of the story.
There are some cases in which this is not true, though. Mexican band Moderatto found relatively (or moderately?) large success by covering 80s songs and looking like they just had sex with Dee Snider and took his clothes to go out to the streets to score some cigs. Apocalyptica got some mainstream (sort of) attention after covering Metallica with nothing but strings, and an uncharted musical profficiency with the solos on non-rock-standard instruments.
Enter The Baseballs, a trio of German kids with nothing to lose and a rather quirky likeness for 50s rock and older rockabilly, making covers of pop hits of all sorts and nature, from Katy Perry and Usher to the mother***ing Pussycat Dolls (whose musical credibility is that of a stripper on acid singing between lap dances at your local male entertainment parlor) and Scissor Sisters.
In general terms, the album is not bad at all. The reinterpretations of all the songs is rather clever (by removing all the "nіgga" in Usher's lyrics, and adding big band elements all over the place, making every single song feel extremely different from the original songs, and even making them gender-free (in the case of Katy Perry's Hot n Cold). Other than the morbosity that can surface from listening to the remake of these songs, they are indeed a refreshing look back (if you can call refreshing to the fact that they are doing things that were hip 50 years ago without cringing or shrugging or rolling your eyes to the back of your skull).
Some credit must be given to these German kids for the results they obtained in their first observation. They keep the music interesting enough for you as a listener not to stop it until it's over. The only detriment I find in this album is the lack of original tracks from the band, which in terms of the album concept would have probably made it feel less well-rounded, and in the end less of a concept and more of a "let's have a blast and pretend we are real artists for once" attempt. In terms of production, everything is crisp and clear, and the live footage and audio that goes around the internet shows that this band has true talent, and should just prove it in their self-written second observation (which would be the logical step forward, unless they enjoyed the Euro success so much they will keep this train rolling until we get utterly bored wi it).
So take out that old leather jacket from your closet and go all Fonzie at your local Ice cream parlor, perform juvenile antics and use this album as your soundtrack, you will enjoy it. (If you find a working Ice cream parlor, anyway).
Recommended tracks:
Don't Cha
This Love
Umbrella
Love in this Club
