Cheer Up

Formed in Southern California in the early '90s, Reel Big Fish has slowly gathered a massive following by virtue of a combination of relentless touring and relentlessly peppy albums, following in the wake of such erstwhile ska/punk bands as No Doubt. While Reel Big Fish lack a front person with the obvious charms of Gwen Stefani, they plough an irresistible Bare Naked Ladies-type furrow with energetic frat-boy anthems such as "Ban the Tube Top" ("beautiful girl, ugly shirt--you are a fashion red alert") and the ska/R&B flavoured "Suckers". There's no denying the attraction of sardonic lyrics set to upbeat rhythms, a formula the Fish stick to throughout CHEER UP! that hits home time and again, in songs such as "What Are Friends For", and "Dateless Losers", a self-explanatory frenetic excursion through many solitary Friday nights--("we're not so bad you know, but you won't give us a chance", they whine) that should find an echo in the hearts of dateless Reel Big Fish fans everywhere. With its refusal to take itself too seriously and its irrepressibly smart pop hooks, CHEER UP! is a joyous soundtrack to an endless summer.|

One of the strange things that's happened to many of the ska-punk and neo-punk bands of the '90s is that as they've grown up and gotten to their third album, they start moving toward power pop territory, all seen through a new wave filter. Reel Big Fish is no exception to the rule. Their third album, Cheer Up!, still has elements of what brought them a hit in the post-alternative mid-'90s -- metallic guitars competing with brassy horns, a mischievous sense of humor -- but the tempos have slowed down a little, and they've spent more time crafting their songs, punching up the melody to the forefront, turning this into more of a pop album than a smirky rock album. This may distress some die-hard fans, but it actually results in a varied, infectious record that isn't just their most diverse album, it's their best. True, it doesn't capture the zeitgeist like their debut, but there's more character here, and it's more consistent, too. Not a bad way to mature. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine