MUSIC JAM

WHY DO THEY ROCK SO HARD?

Reel Big Fish

Mojo Records

Their rhythms are bouncy, their music is happy and their lyrics are sick and twisted. In their latest album, Why Do They Rock So Hard, Reel Big Fish take the emotionally contradictory world of ska and exploit its inconsistencies for all they're worth.

The album opens with a cheerful rendition of "Somebody Hates Me," in which the singer brightly notes, "I hate somebody too." In keeping with this spirit of good will and generosity, the band continues on to the buoyant "Brand New Song," beginning, "I've got a brand new girlfriend/She is so lovely lovely/I've got a new ex-girlfriend/She is so fat and ugly." In fact, all of the songs on Why Do They Rock So Hard revolve around the inability of the singer to relate in any reasonable way to the people around him. Reminiscent of the song "Skatanic" on the band's last album, Turn the Radio Off, their words are fairly uniformly-and less than subtly-based on hatred, lashing out particularly, but certainly not exclusively, against women.

Reel Big Fish described Turn the Radio Off as an album "about being in a band that doesn't go anywhere, and the girls who fuck you over along the way." Why Do They Rock So Hard, similarly, is "about being part of the record industry and being fucked, and the girls who fuck you over along the way." Asked about the increased hostility that this transition has brought to the band's music, trumpet and flugelhorn player Tavis Werts explains that lyricist Aaron Barrett "writes the lyrics from what he is feeling at the moment, and obviously, he was feeling different when he wrote the lyrics for the latest album." So not only are the words dysfunctional, they're also based on personal experience. How very sad.

And then there's the fame fetish. Maybe they're arrogant, maybe they're insecure or maybe they're just normal guys who happen to have come up with a bunch of songs about being famous, but Reel Big Fish certainly spend more than enough time singing about being stars. Their comments on popularity range from the extraordinarily subtle "Big Star"-"Now that I'm a big star what am I gonna do/I'm so bored countin' all my money"--to the potential attempt at modesty "I'm Cool" (a remake of the hidden track on Turn the Radio Off)--"You know I'm cool/When all the guys wanna be my friend/And every little girl here wants to hold my hand/But I sold all of my songs/I'm probably gonna get sued." The song goes on to say that "I'm just a little tiny fish/That's all I'll ever be," but considering the rather blatant connection between these lyrics and the band's name, the case for modesty is rather slim.

In addition, these self-congratulatory songs are still centered around confrontational relationships, primarily between the band and their potential fans. In "We Care," the lyrics are almost whiney, addressing the audience, "Thanx for calling us sell outs," and "We always thought you liked our band/I'm not talkin' about everybody/I'm sorry to waste a song." Similarly, in "The Kids Don't Like It," the singer complains that "We tried to do something new/It may sound real good/But I don't think we're getting through." The singer directs resentment at the "kids," who in all fairness should be showering him with adoration.

Werts notes that much of "We Care" thanks the fans that have stuck with the band, and only a portion of the lyrics are addressed to those people who "don't get it." Nevertheless, an unreasonable feeling of betrayal permeates the album. As Werts explains, "`Somebody Hates Me' is about the fact that for every 100 letters we get from fans saying that they love us, we get a couple saying that they hate us, and those are the ones that stick with us, because we just don't get it." Not everyone loves them--how very, very sad. Not only should the band please all of the people all of the time, but if they don't it's the fault of the listeners who, in their infinite bad taste, don't happen to like the sound of Reel Big Fish.

Werts does have some reasonable criticism of fan mentality. He notes that "`Sell Out' [from Turn the Radio Off] was making fun of kids who condemned No Doubt and Sublime for selling out. You see No Doubt and Sublime on MTV and hear them on the radio. You shouldn't not like bands simply because they're on the radio. You should be happy that good bands get played on the radio so you can listen to good stuff instead of the crap they usually put on." And he adds, "I don't think we are really expressing resentment against things that we try that don't work." This would be all very well and good, except that the songs express resentment, not simply frustration.

And in the end, Reel Big Fish, it seems, feel that their confrontational and generally anti-social songs just don't provide them with ample opportunity to be amused by hearing themselves curse. The lyrics to "You Don't Know" consist almost solely of a string of insults, but really, except for the first two lines, they don't contain much actual profanity. And when, for example, in "Everything Is Cool," the band segues from a calm melody to a scream of, "I wish you were dead!" their language is clean. So, to make up for this deficiency, the band has added a hidden track--a little over 11 minutes of playing around and using random obscenities to no particular end (though, admittedly, the short gangsta' rap imitation is rather amusing).

But in true ska fashion, with their upbeat music, the members of Reel Big Fish make Why Do They Rock So Hardfun in spite of its dysfunctional lyrics. The music on the album is not radical for ska--many of the songs sound borderline generic at first, using ska rhythms and instrumentation in predictable ways. But the music is not bland. The melodies are lively and infectious, the band uses short drum, brass, and guitar features to good effect and, musically, the vocals are interesting and well performed. Songs such as "You Don't Know" and "The Set Up [You Need This]" use vocals in somewhat unusual and memorable ways, though on a small scale.

And there is some variation on the general musical theme. The beginning of "Big Star" sounds oddly like Paul Simon, and parts of "Everything Is Cool" are vaguely death-metalish. But for the most part, Reel Big Fish stick to kinds of rhythms and melodies generally associated with ska, and they perform well in their chosen style.

Within this framework of upbeat and catchy music, it is often difficult to take the messages of the songs on Why Do They Rock So Hard seriously. Perhaps the inconsistency of the music and the lyrics is a failing, allowing listeners to willfully misunderstand or ignore the meanings that Reel Big Fish are attempting to express. But the inconsistency may also serve to highlight alternative music's disturbing acceptance of conflict. And besides, if Reel Big Fish set their lyrics to appropriately violent music, their songs would not be nearly as much fun.