Funny Looking Kids

Picture Day (1999)

Aubin Paul

I used to write for my university's newspaper, The Silhouette. I mostly did reviews and interviews, though last year, I also ran
and designed the web site. While I was working there, I realized a few things about
college reviewers. First of all, they all think they fucking know everything about
music. Secondly, they seem to truly relish slamming musicians. I always wrote reviews
with the attitude that all independant music should be given some respect, simply for
the herculean effort that comes with writing, producing and distributing music without
the backing of a huge, faceless conglomerate.

That said, I didn't enjoy this CD. Sorry. It's not so much that the music is derivative. Some of my favourite bands didn't exactly pioneer punk and hardcore. After all, I
love a ton of less-than-groundbreaking bands. No one ever accused No Use for a Name
of pioneering their sound. But the thing is, No Use managed to put out a better NOFX
than NOFX, and that's the very least of what you need to do if you're not striving to
be original. Of course, originality is not everything. Everyone respects Fugazi,
but I don't hear a lot of them at parties. Even "punk rock" parties.

Funny Looking Kids play a fairly standard blend of ska and punk, inject it with
humour, and a little experimentation. Unfortunately, you could have replaced FLK with
a lot of bands, and you probably wouldn't have gotten my attention. Musically, the
band sounds good, and if they wrote straightforward pop-punk, I might find it less
annoying, but ska, generally, has a quick annoyance factor. Years after the Reel Big
Fish, the Catch 22s, and a decade after Operation Ivy, not to mention the Clash, you
really have to blow me away to get me to listen. And, sorry, but this just didn't
accomplish that.