Artist: The Aquabats!
Album: Charge!!
Label: Nitro Records
Tracks: 13
Length: 38:36
Review By: Christopher Thomas!

If you don’t like to have fun, just stop reading this review right now.  You will HATE this record.  Save yourself the trouble and go back to TorturedIndieKid.com .

See, that’s what The Aquabats! (don’t forget the exclamation point) are all about: fun!  And they’re not about to give up on that just because you want to wear tight pants and scream.  Just listen to these songs titles: “Tiger Rider vs. the Time Sprinkler!,” “Nerd Alert!,” “Look at Me, I’m a Winner!,” “Mechanical Ape!”  They dress up in costumes.  They fight costumed villains at their live shows.  They sell Aquabats! socks.  They filmed a pilot for a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers-style kids action show.  They just want to have fun with you.  Won't you let them?

The Aquabats! are one of the few bands left over from the third-wave ska explosion of the late nineties.  But even then they set themselves apart with their distinctly new-wave sound and intensely cheesy persona, and they continue to be unique and refreshingly different even now.  On this record the horns are entirely absent, but the synthesizer that first surfaced on The Aquabats! vs. The Floating Eye of Death easily fills the spot, and you’ll never notice the difference. 

Musically, this record can best be described as an excellent combination of all of the previous Aquabats! records, with most of the focus on the Floating Eye and Myths and Legends Vol. 2 releases.  There’s some ska-style chinky guitar, lots of synthesizer, and a bit more rocking out than they’ve had in the past.  If you loved “Story of Nothing!” from The Fury of the Aquabats!, then “Hot Summer Nights (Won’t Last Forever)!” will be your new anthem of love lost.  And “Mechanical Ape!” will be your new “Giant Robot-Birdhead!” 

And, of course, there are lots of fun lyrics to sing along to.  And let me tell you, it’s really nice to get away from the anger and violence that permeates every area of music today and listen to songs about zombies and robot monkeys that you can drive.  It’s cheesy, but so is Dumb & Dumber, and you know you love that movie.

So here’s what you should do: lock yourself in your room.  Squeeze into those childhood footie pajamas that you keep hidden in your closet.  Play this CD really loud and jump all over the place dancing and singing into your hairbrush and playing air guitar.  When it’s over you can put your girl pants and white belt back on and pretend like it never happened.