Me First and the Gimme Gimmes' sword cuts two ways: First, it allows punk rockers or “punk rockers” to secretly admit that they like calm, sedate ‘70s cheese rock and pop without actually admitting it. With a slight pop-punk sheen and some blown out speakers, Me First take yacht rock and its ilk and make it palpable all while showing that most of those dusty radio hits had classic pop songwriting down to a science.

But, second, and more interestingly for me, is that Me First take the most milquetoast of songs and in a way, make them subversive. This is never more apparent than on their new album, Blow it at Madison’s Quinceanera. Recorded at the actual 15th birthday of a young lady who didn’t really know the band at all, Blow it finds the band taking schmaltz and deconstructing it, all while having fun.

But wisely, as with most of their albums, the album isn’t JUST “what if we took non-punk songs and made them punk?!!!” Rather, there is a sort of aggression behind the bend here. On the second track, the band asks Madison what song she would like to hear. She says Bruno Mars and the band says they can do that… and then they realize they can’t do that so they just play Captain and Tenille instead, sort of blowing off the subject of the party at her own big day. As per their usual trademark, they wryly jam Joy Division’s “love will tear us apart” into “love will keep us together.” (The “Janie Jones” slid into “Dancing Queen” is nice, too).

In a salute to the situation, the band also plays some latin music. “Estos Celos” is full on mariachi, complete with Brass, and the band is darn convincing. So, is this a salute to Latin culture? Is it appropriation? No and no. It’s ambiguous culture-clash-art that seems to be done for the sake of causing a ruckus- you figure out the deeper meaning… if there is one.

Throughout the release, the band mentions things like “oh, this next one is a cover” and “here is a cover.” They also discuss details and artists regarding the source songs- Juice Newton, for example- to a room full of 14 and 15 year olds who doubtlessly have NO IDEA who Juice Newton, or Freddy Fender or even ABBA is. The crowd seems to be confused but not displeased. In an era where punk is as predictable as pop, it is a thrilling to see a group middle age men take over a kids birthday party and punish the kids with tunes they have never heard, and moreover, make Madison’s party their party. Is it dangerous? Probably. Is it funny? Yes. Is it interesting art that is more tricky than many other so called “punk” records? Without question.