No Parents
Greatest Hits
Ring the Alarm
A greatest hits album, 32 songs long, by an L.A. punk band you’ve probably never heard of may not sound like a good idea. It’s probably not, but No Parents did it anyway, and that alone is worth a nod of respect.
Upon closer inspection, this record is actually one song, “Hey Grandma,” that’s bloated with a strange two minute classically sounding intro that eventually leads into a short burst of a punk song, and 31 other ADD tracks that are, on average, 30 seconds long. It would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so fun. Songs about UFOs, songs about cartoon food and Homer Simpson’s ass, songs about Kenrick Lamar– it’s a kitchen sink kaleidoscope of colorful craziness that’s somewhere on the punk spectrum between Dead Milkmen and Dead Kennedys, and it’s kinda awesome.
Not every song is memorable, and they all blur together in the neckbreak speed at which they fly by, but “UFOMG,” “Rehab,” “Vin Diesel,” and “LA vs Dubai” are all worth their weight in Luna bars (though I prefer Larabars).
[see: “Luna Bars Are For Girls”]
This ambitious piece of bathroom art wraps up with a minute’s worth of chatter recorded at a Guitar Center. Why? “Why the hell not?!” is probably this band of misfits’ answer!
