Chris Fallon
07/05/08, 06:44 PM
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Have Another Ball!
Record Label: Fat Wreck Chords
Release Date: July 8, 2008
Back in 1995, five Bay Area friends - all from different yet respected punk bands - decided to take their love of karaoke and FM radio staples to new heights by forming a fun-loving side project that basically combined elements of lounge singing with punk rock to make Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. In fact, they had so much fun singing these timeless classics from artists who were the antithesis of everything punk rock despised (like Carly Simon and Logins & Messina), they thought about stretching it out to 2-CDs worth of sped-up oldies for their 1997 debut.
Alas, the band figured too much rock for the Warped Tour audience might result in overdosing on pure, unadulterated rockage, and send them into a hypnotic, acid-trip-like trance that Jerry Garcia experienced on a nightly basis for ... well, until his death. The first Gimmes session wound up having a dozen tracks leftover, put onto limited-edition EPs featuring the first or last name of whatever artist the band was paying homage to (e.g. Denver for John Denver; Billy for Billy Joel). Now, after taking on showtunes, 60’s pop, R&B and country (not to mention crashing a Bar Mitzvah), the band has decided to present their fans with remastered versions of these long-lost b-sides and the other half of their aforementioned debut, Have a Ball.
The most noticeable improvement since their inception is vocalist Spike Slawson’s (bass player for Swingin’ Utters) voice. Here, it is still very raw and throaty (see: “Only The Good Die Young”) while nowadays, he feels almost like he would be completely comfortable singing nightly in Las Vegas. Slawson is the star of the show here, with legendary NOFX front man Fat Mike left to picking up the rhythmic paces on bass (that of which he succeeds at) and Lagwagon vocalist Joey Cape keeping to the background on rhythm guitar. Former No Use For a Name guitarist Chris Shiflett adds his own punk-tastic touch to some very memorable chords (“Country Roads” and “Coming To America”), proving why he is revered as one of rock music’s most talented axe-handlers with Foo Fighters today.
Have Another Ball not only sounds better than the lo-fi EP versions that have been trailing across the internet for so long, they are some of the Gimmes best songs. “The Boxer” takes Simon and Garfunkel’s poetic tale of an Irish boxer to even more grandiose heights by adding much-needed flair to the tune, and “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me,” easily one of their best covers, cranks up the classic Elton John ballad better than George Michael ever could. The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” is transplanted into James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend” (originally sung by Carole King), making it an anthem for acquaintances everywhere - an impeccable song to unify an audience.
While any Gimmes fan will likely already have these in some way, shape or form, it’s nice to finally have a full-album’s worth of these classic b-sides which all sound better than ever - some may say they sound even better than Have a Ball originally did. As a companion piece to the bands debut, it works perfectly and will hold any fan over until the next time they get to hear new material from these five friends’ other bands. And hey - maybe your mom will finally come to understand why you’ve had your music turned up so loud all these years: you were simply enjoying her favorite songs in your own way.
And The Fresh Prince said parents just don’t understand...
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes’ Have a Ball; sped-up FM radio classics; lounge singing; karaoke with skater punks from the 90’s“Country Roads,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”
1. Rich Girl
2. The Boxer
3. Country Roads
4. I Write The Songs
5. Sodomy
6. You’ve Got a Friend
7. Mahogany
8. Mother and Child Reunion
9. Only The Good Die Young
10. Coming To America
11. The Harder They Come
12. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On MeSpike Slawson - vocals
Fat Mike - bass, vocals
Chris Shiflett - guitar
Joey Cape - guitar, vocals
Dave Raun - drums
Official Site (http://www.gimmegimmes.com/) | Official Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/gimmegimmes)Amazon MP3 (http://www.amazon.com/Have-Another-Ball/dp/B001BGG42K/ref=mb_oe_o)
Record Label: Fat Wreck Chords
Release Date: July 8, 2008
Back in 1995, five Bay Area friends - all from different yet respected punk bands - decided to take their love of karaoke and FM radio staples to new heights by forming a fun-loving side project that basically combined elements of lounge singing with punk rock to make Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. In fact, they had so much fun singing these timeless classics from artists who were the antithesis of everything punk rock despised (like Carly Simon and Logins & Messina), they thought about stretching it out to 2-CDs worth of sped-up oldies for their 1997 debut.
Alas, the band figured too much rock for the Warped Tour audience might result in overdosing on pure, unadulterated rockage, and send them into a hypnotic, acid-trip-like trance that Jerry Garcia experienced on a nightly basis for ... well, until his death. The first Gimmes session wound up having a dozen tracks leftover, put onto limited-edition EPs featuring the first or last name of whatever artist the band was paying homage to (e.g. Denver for John Denver; Billy for Billy Joel). Now, after taking on showtunes, 60’s pop, R&B and country (not to mention crashing a Bar Mitzvah), the band has decided to present their fans with remastered versions of these long-lost b-sides and the other half of their aforementioned debut, Have a Ball.
The most noticeable improvement since their inception is vocalist Spike Slawson’s (bass player for Swingin’ Utters) voice. Here, it is still very raw and throaty (see: “Only The Good Die Young”) while nowadays, he feels almost like he would be completely comfortable singing nightly in Las Vegas. Slawson is the star of the show here, with legendary NOFX front man Fat Mike left to picking up the rhythmic paces on bass (that of which he succeeds at) and Lagwagon vocalist Joey Cape keeping to the background on rhythm guitar. Former No Use For a Name guitarist Chris Shiflett adds his own punk-tastic touch to some very memorable chords (“Country Roads” and “Coming To America”), proving why he is revered as one of rock music’s most talented axe-handlers with Foo Fighters today.
Have Another Ball not only sounds better than the lo-fi EP versions that have been trailing across the internet for so long, they are some of the Gimmes best songs. “The Boxer” takes Simon and Garfunkel’s poetic tale of an Irish boxer to even more grandiose heights by adding much-needed flair to the tune, and “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me,” easily one of their best covers, cranks up the classic Elton John ballad better than George Michael ever could. The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” is transplanted into James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend” (originally sung by Carole King), making it an anthem for acquaintances everywhere - an impeccable song to unify an audience.
While any Gimmes fan will likely already have these in some way, shape or form, it’s nice to finally have a full-album’s worth of these classic b-sides which all sound better than ever - some may say they sound even better than Have a Ball originally did. As a companion piece to the bands debut, it works perfectly and will hold any fan over until the next time they get to hear new material from these five friends’ other bands. And hey - maybe your mom will finally come to understand why you’ve had your music turned up so loud all these years: you were simply enjoying her favorite songs in your own way.
And The Fresh Prince said parents just don’t understand...
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes’ Have a Ball; sped-up FM radio classics; lounge singing; karaoke with skater punks from the 90’s“Country Roads,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”
1. Rich Girl
2. The Boxer
3. Country Roads
4. I Write The Songs
5. Sodomy
6. You’ve Got a Friend
7. Mahogany
8. Mother and Child Reunion
9. Only The Good Die Young
10. Coming To America
11. The Harder They Come
12. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On MeSpike Slawson - vocals
Fat Mike - bass, vocals
Chris Shiflett - guitar
Joey Cape - guitar, vocals
Dave Raun - drums
Official Site (http://www.gimmegimmes.com/) | Official Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/gimmegimmes)Amazon MP3 (http://www.amazon.com/Have-Another-Ball/dp/B001BGG42K/ref=mb_oe_o)