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| Reel Big FishMonkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps for Free2007 Rock Ridge 
  Review by: KirbyPuckett See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
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 Published on July 24th 2007
Orange County’s Reel Big Fish are currently in their fifteenth year as a band, cementing them as veterans in the ska-punk genre. Despite featuring only two original members, the band has not changed much in the past decade since their breakout hit “Sell Out.” Their sixth studio album Monkey’s for Nothin’ and the Chimps for Free features a plethora of buoyant songs just in time for the peak of summer, an obligatory cover song, and a few re-workings of older songs. The first ten tracks of the record, “The Monkeys,” are all new songs, while tracks 11-17, “The Chimps,” are re-recordings. Thus, the album feel is loose, but it still maintains the qualities you expect from RBF.
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The low points of this album, unfortunately, come just after the beginning. This means that after the initial buzz, the album just dies until just after half way through, making it hard to listen all the way through without stabbing out your eyes. My Imaginary Friend is one of the deepest and most serious songs Reel Big Fish has. If you read the lyrics you can tell that it is about there being no god, and god was his imaginary friend. I really like this album. Fans have wanted them to go back to their old style for ages. Cheer Up was an enjoyable record by the way, people seem to dismiss it just because it wasn't ska. And just because ska is not as popular as it was in 97 doesn't mean ska is dead. Punk is dead though, that's for sure. "RBF seems too dorky for you, yet you like Guttermouth? Aren't they like, the epotome of dorky sarcastic slapstick shitty NoFx wanna be sloppy punk?" Another FU song and My Imaginary Friend are meant to be jokes, you can't dissect the songs and talk about how bad the lyric writing was. I really like Reel Big Fish. They're live album is my favorite live album, second only to "Live at the Roxy". punknews.org, "despite its juvenile nature" "lyrical content that should be embarrassing for a man in his thirties to sing" Suicide Machines are a deep band? who listens to rbf and expects something 'good' or 'deep' or 'worthwhile'. you know if i want to listen to ska yeah i'd rather listen to suicide machines etc etc etc but most of my friends don't; they want the 'core' dropped and i think that everyone can enjoy getting wasted to this band and i don't think they pretend to do anything more or less. My Imaginary Friend is a good song. Really big love for Fish! Please see soon very energetic and good time for all whether there for core or for more poppy! I agree completely about the awesomeness of the album title. Score is for that. It's probably cos i'm retarded but i think the record title is HILARIOUS. RBF seems too dorky for you, yet you like Guttermouth? Aren't they like, the epotome of dorky sarcastic slapstick shitty NoFx wanna be sloppy punk? this album is kinda good but reeeeaaaallllly bad at the same time. reel big fish are like the friend who you kinda like, but kinda feel sorry for as well, so you hang with them not to hurt their feelings. in the end you have a pretty decent time hanging with them, but then you go hang out with your good friends and you think to yourself "why was i hanging with reel big fish when i could have been hanging with these dudes? i could have even gone out and made some new friends! next time i see reel big fish i'm gonna pay the shit out of them!" Just downloaded the album then. I hope its good, ive never really got into RBF. They seemed to dorky for me, espcially when i saw them with Guttermouth. Hopefully this album changes my views "Goooooooooooffffffffyyyyy ska! (sucks)" This CD is pretty bland and overly lengthy. There are about 6-7 OK songs on the album and the rest is very hard to listen to. "Somebody PLEASE tell me, is it worth me buying this considering: Kirby doesn't seem to understand that Another F.U. Song is tongu-in-cheek. Rawls with Balls (lol, wtf?) Can someone send me an mp3 of their cover of Boss DJ? If you liked RADIO OFF AND ROCK SO HARD, you'll probably dig this record. Somebody PLEASE tell me, is it worth me buying this considering: I don't think I said Voodoo were from the OC...just the people who still find interest in these bands and purchase their albums...but thanx for the geography lesson! "It's amazing that the bad musical taste of Orange County can keep bands like these guys, the Aquabats, and Voodoo Glow Skulls alive" hahahahahahahahahahaha this shit sucks hahahahahahahaha ska is dead hahahahahahahaha wow, perfect review and thank you for letting me know where the "chimps" originally came from. This album is not good. It tries to get by on "hey, we're doing peppy ska riffs again" and nothing more. The only good songs are the Everything Sucks remakes. The worst songs are "Slow down" and "way back". What the hell were they thinking? Those songs sound nothing like RBF. Where's the "I hate myself and i hate you too" songs? Someone has to run over Aaron's dog for the greater good, so that he'll start writing angry songs again. Without that, they're just another stupid mid-nineties party/goofball band for 16 year olds. Goooooooooooffffffffyyyyy ska! (sucks) this is really horrible. it's all over the place and lacks any sort of focus, and it tries way too hard to be funny when it is clearly not. It's amazing that the bad musical taste of Orange County can keep bands like these guys, the Aquabats, and Voodoo Glow Skulls alive...just think of the brats from Real Housewives of Orange County jamming out to this one on their way to vote for Mit Romney!!! It's pretty good. I've never been a huge fan of RBF on record, but in a live setting, even the more average songs sound great. Music aside, I just couldn't own a CD with such bad album art. What were they thinking? It looks like what you'd find on some childrens educatoinal CD-ROM, or some budget compilation on a discount rack at Wal-Mart. C'mon, guys - album art matters! Don't put out shit like this! Leaving the major label world has been great for RBF; your move, LTJ. I was thinking of getting this, but with the shitty weather here in the uk i'm not in the mood for summer music its a grower. cannibal is awesome, as is slow down and my imaginary friend. the dvd that comes with it is ok, although its only 20 minutes. I was expecting a harsher review of this CD, but I think a 7 is a very fair score. If you still like Reel Big Fish you'll probably like this CD. Party Down and Another Day in Paradise are so catchy. I'm really glad they redid Hate You, Why Do All Girls Think They're Fat? and I'm Her Man because those songs are fun. best reel big fish song ever : beer Much better than their last two studio efforts. I give them credit for that. There's more out there than just skacore guys. Ugh. skaskaskaskaska "My Imaginary Friend" is a great song and i'll knife fight anyone who says otherwise New Version of You is one of their best ever. I'm bummed they didn't do an official studio recording of "So Long For Rock and Roll." That song's fucking killer. Still, pretty sweet album. Some of the songs aren't quite up to par, but "Another FU Song" is classic RBF. solid album...some songs could have been spruced up a bit but overall it's a moderately good pop-ska disk with some mainstream twists Reel Big Fish is proof that this type of ska will never die, even though it should. wow, this band is still around? give it up guys. |
