Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 04/05/2005
We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy is
Reel Big Fish's first album in three years. But if the title isn't a giveaway, this feels more like an embittered farewell than a triumphant return. The artwork features a bonfire built from mangled instruments, the band fight against a sinking ship, and frontman
Aaron Barrett sings angrily about his band, thankless fans, record industry stupidity, and a few ex-girlfriends. And yet, as they did with the 1996 hit
"Sell Out," Reel Big Fish attach their cynicism to buoyant melodies, ringing guitars, and charming inflections of their
third-wave past. For a band so angry about their state of being,
Reel Big Fish sure seem game to keep plugging away, and this conflicted sentiment makes
We're Not Happy confusing.
"One Hit Wonderful" begins with a montage of "flashback lunch" radio DJs and snippets of
"Sell Out" before slamming fickle fans into an Irish
drinking song sway.
"Last Show" pulls even fewer punches -- "I've learned my lesson/I'll never follow my dreams again,"
Barrett sings -- but it's one of
We're Not Happy's hookiest tracks. Even the covers are telling, as
Big Fish fry up
ska-
punk'd versions of
Social Distortion's
"Story of My Life" (where they sound exactly like
Smash Mouth) and
Morrissey's
"We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful." (Another cover,
Tracy Chapman's
"Talkin' Bout a Revolution," misses the point completely.) What do
Reel Big Fish really want? Opener
"Fire" is a refreshing blast in the vein of classic
Operation Ivy, but it also considers the futility of making music. Then there's the self-explanatory
"Don't Start a Band." It has none of the veteran's tone of warning, à la
Less Than Jake's 2003 LP
Anthem; it just hammers home record biz shenanigans over another sunny
ska-
punk hook.
"Turn the Radio Off" is the final word, denouncing the industry, radio, its "zombie" listeners, and seemingly by association,
Reel Big Fish themselves. And naturally it's super catchy.
~Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
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