Albums That I Liked (in 2000): Myths, Legends, and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2

Well kids, I'm home alone on a Saturday night, and I have an assload of work that I don't want to do. You know what that means! It's time for another exciting edition of Albums That I Liked!

I thought it would be cool to follow up my Aquabats concert post with another Aquabats-themed post, so tonight we're going to be looking at their B-sides album, Myths, Legends, and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2 (before you ask, no, there is no volume 1).


As I said above, Myths, Legends, and Other Amazing Adventures (which from here on out will be referred to as Myths. Or I'll abbreviate it to MLOA! because that's an hilariously awesome exclamation) is a B-sides album. For those not "in" with the music lingo, that means that essentially it's a collection of songs that were cut from other albums for not fitting with an album's sound, not being up to the band's usual par, or just being plain friggin' weird. Myths definitely focuses on the WEIRD. While it is the band's most inconsistent (given the B-side thing) and possibly worst album, it still has tons of great moments, including two of their most well-known songs, and is weird enough to warrant a listen. In fact, it's a testament to The Aquabats' skill that most of these songs are still pretty damn good.

One thing that is notable in Myths is the general lack of horns. This album came right on the heels of Vs. The Floating Eye of Death!!, which is basically the album where they stopped being a ska band, and morphed into a punk band with horns (it also happens to my favourite album by them). Still, the horns were way more prominent on that album than on Myths; whether this is because the songs are a tad unfinished or simply because The Aquabats were in the process of changing their sound is up for debate, but it's an interesting thing to note after seeing their transformation for their latest album Charge!!.

MLOA! contains possibly the two most popular Aquabats songs (well, as popular as they could get anyways), Pizza Day and Pool Party, and for good reason too; both of the songs have infectious, sing-alongable choruses, silly, nostalgic lyrics, and some damn fine hooks: in short, everything great about The Aquabats.

About halfway through the album, it gets a little more inconsistent and a whole lot stranger. This trend starts with I Fell Asleep On My Arm, which is an absolutely hilarious send-up of Korn, Limp Bizkit, and nu-metal in general about....well, a dude being really angry about falling asleep on his arm. Some sample lyrics:

"Corporate America makes pencils
For the man with the left hand
They make pencils for the man with the right hand
But what about the man with the numb hand?
Four hundred grand to see The Rage
From back here I can't see the stage
It's time to start my own parade
So lift up your arm and wave"

Awesome.

As the album goes on, strangeness abounds: a bubbly jazz tune about a bunch of creatures mutated by radiation (including an interlude with Billy, the Tap-dancing Mutant Boy!); a waltz about the toils of a baker; and an educational song about earthworms and their function in the ecosystem. There are also some seriously wicked, more normal songs; Danger Woman in particular is a blast of punk-y goodness. And the album ends with a very cool song called The Wild Sea which was the original version of Chemical Bomb from Floating Eye of Death; interesting to see how the same main melody can be used in two very different songs!

Basically, if you like The Aquabats, give this album a listen. If you haven't heard them yet, this probably isn't the best place to start, but it's a hell of a lot of fun! If you're into quirky weirdness, this album is for you.

Suggested Songs:
-Pizza Day
-Pool Party
-Danger Woman
-Radiation Song
-I Fell Asleep On My Arm

Coming up next: who knows?

Have some feedback? Disagree with me and wanna bash my head in? Agree with me and want to feed me grapes whilst giving me a a sensual massage? Comment!

-Daniel

Stuff That I Saw (Live!) - The Aquabats, March 16, 2010 at The Mod Club

This isn't from the show last night but it still KICKS ASS.

Let me get this out of the way early: The Aquabats are my favourite band. Ever. I listen to a pretty large amount of music, and picking a SINGLE favourite band is pretty difficult; but after much deliberation, I don't think I can honestly say that any other band has had the lasting impact on me that The Aquabats have. I've been listening to these guys for roughly 5 or 6 years now, and while I definitely go through alternating 'listening'/'not listening' phases with them, they are a band that I always have, and most probably always will, go back to.

For the uninitiated, The Aquabats used to be a ska band coming out of Orange County, California, a scene that had a huge part in reviving ska music in the early 90s (third-wave ska got especially popular around 1996, as bands like Reel Big Fish and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones started getting featured in MTV movies). The Aquabats had a flair of their own though; they dressed up in superhero costumes, took on goofy personae (such as Crash McLarson and MC Bat Commander), and played music that was over-the-top, quirky as hell, and often an outright parody of the music that surrounded them. Over time, the Aquabats gradually became less horn-driven and ska-y. Eventually, their horn players left the band (except for the sax player, as he doubles as a keyboard player); instead of finding new members though, the Aquabats just decided to revamp their sound. So now The Aquabats play a sort of Devo-y punk/new wave kind of thing, which happens to be marvelous (check out their album Charge! It rules! I'll be writing a post about it eventually).

I got to the show late and missed the first opener, Prince Perry, but he plays some pretty basic roots reggae music. Nothing too special. Keepin' 6 were their usual "meh"; they always seem to me like a less intense Heatskores. Again, nothing to write home about.

Luckily, The Aquabats brought their usual wit and charm to the stage and delivered a kickass performance. That being said, the first time I saw them (about 5 years ago at The Reverb, which was the last time they came to Toronto), was better. This is probably due to lack of label support that The Aquabats have at the moment after being dropped from their record label last year. It was extremely noticable, and did affect the show; merch wasn't too varied, and they ran out of basic sizes very quickly (and everything was more expensive than last time too). Most notably though, the set was WAY too short for a headliner; it clocked in at about an hour. This is fine for a local band, but for The Aquabats? Really?

The problem with such a short set is that it meant that the band had to stick to their more well-known, concert-ready songs. Here was the setlist as I remember it (not in order).

CD Repo Man
Super Rad
Awesome Forces
Fashion Zombies
Nerd Alert
Look At Me, (I'm a Winner)
The Cat with Two Heads
Pizza Day
Pool Party
Lovers of Loving Love
Tiger Rider vs. The Time Sprinkler
Martian Girl

So as you can see, choice cuts from Charge! and their more successful tunes (anecdote in regards to that: some asshole standing next to me kept yelling for them to play Super Rad; they did eventually of course, but what the fuck? If he only wanted to hear that song, he should of just stayed home and listened to it instead of coming to the show and being a dick....and then decapitated himself with a dull razorblade. Just sayin'). The problem with this, besides the lack of any really COOL inclusions (though it's nice to hear Cat with Two heads again, and it was neat of them to pull out CD Repo Man), was that some of the Aquabats show staples, i.e. monster battle royales, were supremely cut back; usually there are two monster fights, and there's some sort of plotline-esque thing going on throughout the show. We got one fight, and no reference to it afterwards.

Anyways, I'm nitpicking here; the fact of the matter is that it was a great, energetic show, filled with the same offbeat, family-friendly humour The Aquabats are known for. I laughed out loud numerous times, and few bands connect to their audience like The Aquabats, what with the MC Bat Commander always getting the audience to sing, giving constant high fives, and just generally being an awesome dude. Seriously, when I brought my camera to the last show, he actually posed on-stage just so I could get a picture! Totally sweet dude.

The picture in question.

I hope this review wasn't too negative sounding; if you get the chance, go see The Aquabats, even if you don't like/know them. I promise, you won't be disappointed. It's just a shame that their current record label situation is what it is. Let's find a new one and release that new album already, boys! You can do it!

The Aquabats Rules!

-Daniel