reel-big-fish.com
Reel Big Fish is: Aaron Barrett - lead vocals, guitar; Carlos de la Garza - drums, percussion; Scott Klpfenstein - trumpet, backup vocals, guitar, piano; Dan Reagan - trombone; Matt Wong - bass
Cheer Up! - © 2002, ZMJO Corporation.
| 1. good thing 2. somebody loved me 3. ban the tube top 4. cheer up 5. where have you been? 6. suckers 7. what are friends for 8. a little doubt goes a long way 9. dateless losers |
10. valerie 11. rock 'n' roll is bitchin' 12. new york, new york (cover) 13. sayanora senorita 14. boss dj 15. brand new hero 16. drunk again |
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jh: Well, this CD is sort of weird. The music has lots of cheery-sounding trumpets and such but most of the lyrics are depressing. So if you are a lyrics-ignoring listener, Cheer Up! will seem like an ordinary noisy, happy sounding ska (I think that's what they call rock plus trumpets and trombone) album. But if you agonize over the words and meaning behind every song, you will not want to listen to this one back to back during long car drives because you could very well end up sobbing in the ditch. In spite of that, I enjoy this CD because the sound is different (again, trumpets and the like tend to make things sound different) but not too different, and the music is good. "Ban the tube top" is funny; "drunk again," "where have you been?" and "good thing" are great. And besides, it really ought to be a compliment to the writers that their lyrics make you feel sad if that's the way they were intended to make you feel. If you like ska music, or you like Reel Big Fish, or you like being sad, get Cheer Up! because it's a fine specimen of all three.