You can make all the accusations you want. But when it boils down, you just can not take
Bloodhound Gang seriously. Even if in the far future these snot nosed brats turn born again Christians and release a full out gospel album, there will be that one guy screaming from the front pew
"Like my scrotum here it is in a nutshell!" Maybe it’s the over the top lyrical style chosen by the band leader
Jimmy Pop Ali, which are a lot of times vulgar and can violate the easily offended. Or it can also be their multiple musical influences, while still coming off not very technical. Whatever it is, it’s a sure thing that the music of
Bloodhound Gang is light hearted that’s fun to enjoy.
The Bloodhound Gang began their history back in the town of Qakertown, PA, in the year of 1992 under the short lived name
Bang Chamber 8. After one demo tape, band name quickly changed to
Bloodhound Gang. After two more self released demo tapes (
"Just Another Demo", "The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Hitler's Handicapped Helpers"), the gang landed themselves a deal with Cheese Factory Records, which the
:Dingleberry Haze" EP was released in 1994. The rap and punk influenced rock sound caught the eye of Columbia Records for the release of their debut LP
"Use Your Fingers" soon followed in March, 1995. After the failure of their debut, Columbia dropped the gang. After a few member changes and a slight sound change,
Bloodhound Gang signs with Geffen Records for the release of
"One Fierce Beer Coaster" in 1996. The album produced the surprisingly feel good hit
"Fire Water Burn" and chart topping success, reaching number 57 on the Billboard Top 200 in the states.
"Really we're not trying to shock anybody, we're just saying things that we laugh at.
That was always the idea.
The same things that we talk about on the bus are the same things we put out on our records."
Jimmy Pop Ali
Bloodhound Gang:
Jimmy Pop Ali
DJ Q-Ball
Evil Jared Hasselhoff
Lupus Thunder
Tard-E-Tard
Well how far will homoerotic jokes, oral sex jokes, Bon Jovi jokes, and fart jokes get you in
Bloodhound Gang's world? Presumably 12 songs of rap/rock bliss.
Bloodhound Gang's sound can be summed up in multiple genres. Alternative rock, hip hop, some nu-metal, and tardcore. All of which meshes together into their own unique, yet very simple sound. Its pretty hard to find a serious song on here. The presumably softer song on here,
"Your Only Friends Are Make Believe" includes Jimmy posing as Mr Rogers telling Mr McFeelie to *** off. The song progresses itself as an acoustic track using the similar acoustic power chords, with an eerie feel to the vocals. At a whopping 7 minutes long, it comes the closest to have any sort of real meaning behind it. Quite possibly from what I get from the non Mr Rogers-esque verses is that no matter how much you can pretend, life isn't perfect.
If you have heard any
Bloodhound Gang song in the past, then you know what you are up for in the vocal category. Jimmy Pop's clean, almost too much of a white boyish voice isn't always the greatest, but its enough to get by, especially in the band's case. As far as any other songs in the band's catalog, this album is no different. EXCEPT for two notable songs. The first track
"Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny" showcases very strange out of key vox. Almost to the point of annoyance, but its held together by its sarcastically brilliant lyrics about oral sex on a woman. No real substance, just
"There must be something wrong with Al Pacino's nose, because the Scent Of A Woman is like rotten tomatoes". Starts off with a simple metal-esque riff, maybe to describe Jimmy Pop's vocals on here, its almost like a screaming rap. The bridge the vocals hit a high pitch, which does get annoying, but I'm sure its just meant to be a joke song. The second song where the vocals differ from those on the rest is the Run DMC cover
"It's Tricky." The vocals sound like its being recorded through a distorted microphone, but it adds to the nu-metal feel to the song. The song is covered in respect and features dual rapping from DJ Q-Ball and Jimmy Pop. Its an up to par rendition of a classic hip hop song, done with dual bass drums and grinding guitars, nothing that’s expected from
Bloodhound Gang.
"It's Tricky" isn't the only track on here that makes reference to a classic hip hop song. The chorus to
"Fire Water Burn" is directly taken from
"The Roof Is On Fire" by
Rock Master Scott, (put that in your information pipe and smoke it!). Yes, it features some of the best sarcastically written lyrics on here, which are about Jimmy proving his non-gangster lifestyle. Yes, it provides one hell of a rocking anthem. Yes, it does make it worthy to be radio gold. But the song itself has some boring vocals and instrumentals. Almost like the emotion that went to making nearly the entire album was drained by the time they recorded this song. It would be far more enjoyable if it wasn't so damn boring. Not to mention the song drags for the last two minutes, which seems to try to rile up a party, but still keeping the lack of emotion which carried the song. In the end, the entire song fits, but then again it doesn't.
If there was ever a title of a song, to where the song can be all summed up, it would be
"I Wish I Was Queer, So I Could Get Chicks." As you might expect, its done in true satirical
Bloodhound Gang fashion. The song plots a new way to pick up chicks, to pretend that you are gay. Brought up in a punk influenced guitar riffs, included by a bit of DJ Q-Ball scratching. The chorus just flows so well, as it uses the last word in a line, as the first line on the next line.
Lift Your Head Up High (And Blow Your Brains Out) is quite the opposite to
"Fire Water Burn" (as where FWB poses as gangster, while coming off as a pure white boy). This song has a very uplifting mood, all about telling you to kill yourself. It seems to be very morbid, but it works well into one hell of a funny song. Its one of the more rap influenced songs on the disc. It carries a clapping beat through out the intro. I guess it can be compared to their future radio hit
"The Bad Touch." Has that techno feel to the beat. The highlight is the bridge to the chorus, as it strikes ska chords, like nothing the gang has done before. Sound effects of a gun blast takes the song to its end.
One of the songs on here I just couldn't get into,
"Asleep At The Wheel" sounds like a complete mess. It’s the most different sounding
Bloodhound Gang song I've possibly heard. This one has an eerie techno beat, influenced by a bit of gansta rap, but the vocals just piss me off. The song does not fit at all in this, or any other
Bloodhound Gang album. The only saving grace I can find is the bridge leading to the chorus, where the lyric
"You got the Jesus on your dashboard, but the devil's under the hood". That can
almost be classified as a hook. Definite skipper.
"Why Is Everybody Always Picking On Me" is the most mellow song on here. What doesn't stand out is the over cheesy lyrics. I hold my
Bloodhound Gang to higher standards than this. It's about going through a list on why nobody likes the character played by Jimmy Pop. Such lame references to not brushing teeth since 1983, shacking with a wookie, and Bill Cosby. Well it was pretty cool when the song enters into a Gilligan Island, where Gilligan hits up LSD and goes crazy. Total lameness eludes as
Rob Van Winkle (aka
Vanilla Ice) joins the gang for
"Boom." You know its lame when Vanilla Ice takes his part of the song, and releases it on his album Hard To Swallow. The mood is dark, which takes away from some good one liners. It comes off as a bad gangster rap track, which it seems the gang aren't too great at in the first place. Perhaps it was a joke to collaborate with
Vanilla Ice for a song, but the song isn't that great at all.
Two things I have to mention about Bloodhound Gang.
1. They have a deep hatred for New Jersey for some sort of reason. Based on songs like
"Boom", which is nothing but a song that names of cities that they have rocked. At the end of the second verse, they mention after listing over 60 city's,
"But nowhere In New Jersey, that's the only place we don't go." I'm not going to lie, that does come off as funny, (see also "Ten Coolest Things About New Jersey" on the
Hooray For Boobies album).
2. Jimmy Pop just loves to mention his name in many songs. Including the opening verse to
"Fire Water Burn" and both verses on
"Shut Up." Dude, seriously, no need to whore yourself.
Well in all honestly, I laughed at so many moments while listening to
One Fierce Beer Coaster. My personal enjoyment of the album over rides the overall quality a little bit. Because there are so many weak points. Like the mesh of genres rolled into one giant Blink 182 joke album, yet being yielded by their own lack of musical technicality. Its fun to listen to when you're in a good mood, it may bring a smile to your face.
Personal Enjoyment: 4/5
+
Quality: 3/5
=
Overall: 3.5/5
Favorite One Liners:
"Life is short and hard, like a bodybuilding elf" Lift Your Head Up High
"I'm hung like the planet Pluto, hard to see with the naked eye" Fire Water Burn
"The drummer from Def Leppard has only got one arm" Why Is Everybody Always Picking On Me
"Throw in the towel, because your life ain't ***. No, take the towel and hang yourself with it" Lift Your Head Up High
I hate Jon Bon Jovi, but I hate his music more. Shut Up
The Sludge's Thumb Up's:
Lift Your Head Up High (And Blow Your Brains Out)
Your Only Friends Are Make Believe
I Wish I Were Queer So I Could Get Chicks
