Fat Wreck Chords; July 2008
Take a Japanese garden-the serenity, the peace, the harmony. Now take your essential rock band-Rolling Stones, AC/DC-and imagine head-banging, moshing, and even crowd surfing to their top hit in that garden. It’s with this exact scenario in mind that Me First and the Gimme Gimmes have built their career. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of their debut album, Have a Ball, the band has released Have Another Ball. Like its predecessor, the collection boasts covers of hits from the ’60s and ’70s. Here, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” gets pounded with guitar distortion, while lead singer Spike Slawson delivers Elton John’s original lyrics with serious punk rock gusto. For the most part, the selections work at a faster tempo, with rougher and bolder vocals helping to strengthen each song’s core alongside heavy backbeats and distorted riffs.