The Aquabats
Charge!
Nitro Records
These guy start out with a bundle of points for just showing up in the geekiest outfits since Devo became mainstream. They follow up with loud, snappy, upbeat music and a comic book mentality. Songs are about not making it with girls, saving the world from non-existent threats and the sort of crap you worry about just before real puberty hits. It’s hard to pick a favorite song, but it’s either “Tiger Ride vs. the Time Sprinkler!” or “Awesome Forces!” Yeah, all songs have exclamation points; these guys are that excited about their stuff.
This band reminds me of a group called the A’s, who floated around in the late ’70s and sang about lame teenage angst. I can’t say The Aquabats cut new musical ground, but they take styles and arrangements that we know, fluff them up, and make a dang good impression with the results.
The Aquabats: http://www.aquabats.com • Nitro Records: http://www.nitrorecords.com
