Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 05/18/1999
Run Time: 25:58
Though it doesn't sound like a brilliant idea,
Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, an all-star cover band dedicated to regurgitating punk rock-style the most frothy music in their parents' record collections, are actually extraordinarily entertaining and can make the likes of
John Denver and
Barry Manilow sound not so bad. The lineup includes
Fat Mike of
NOFX, the guitarist from the
Foo Fighters, a couple of the guys from
Lagwagon, and
Spike Slawson,
the Gimmes' sweet-voiced singer, who also plays bass for
the Swingin' Utters. On their second record,
Are a Drag,
the Gimmes tackle all of their parents' favorite showtunes, claiming homage rather than satire. Most of their choices are songs that anybody even remotely into musicals knows by heart. Their cover of
"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" has more choruses than the original, rocks pretty damn hard, and is certainly worthy of a swirling slam pit. Though it's not as wild as
John Coltrane's version,
the Gimmes'
"My Favorite Things" is raging enough to send
Julie Andrews swan diving off the stage into a sea of sweaty punkers. They mess with the jazz standard
"Summertime" by
Gershwin, adding some fine surfy leads to a song that's been played a million times over. Also, there's their furious rendition of
Andrew Lloyd Webber's
"Phantom of the Opera." On
Are a Drag,
the Gimmes succeed at playing showtunes that punk kids can dig, no small feat.
~Adam Bregman, All Music Guide
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