Reel Big Fish - Monkeys For Nothin And The Chimps For Free Review

To say I wasn't thrilled with the last album from Reel Big Fish would be an understatement.  We're Not Happy Til You're Not Happy was a turd.  Albeit, occasionally said turd was polished up a bit with a decent song here or there, but a polished turd is still a turd, no matter which way you slice (or in this case, polish) it.  The album felt like one big novelty song, and the song titles even pointed at that.  They sounded tired, beaten, and worn down.  

Well, now they're back with Monkeys For Nothin' (And the Chimps For Free).  Originally, the band went into the studio to put together a b-sides record with a couple of new songs.  What came out was 10 new original songs (the Monkeys), and re-recordings of a few other older songs that had been previously released at various points in the band's history (the Chimps).

Upon first listen, I wasn't all that impressed with this disc, but it has improved with each succeeding listen.  It is not an album that measures up to the band's 3 excellent albums prior to We're Not Happy, but it is an improvement on the prior release. 

The group has had a lot of success with simple ska songs the last couple of records, and this one is no different.  Slow Down could be criticized as a bit of a generic, easygoing ska song, but it's a perfect summertime song, light and breezy with just enough introspection to provide a nice dichotomy from the easygoing nature of the music.  Will The Revolution Come is very similar with some nice organ fills and a strong close that finds the band revving from light reggae into full on rock anthem.

Their brand of straight up ska-punk is represented well on tracks like the opening Party Down and Live Your Dream.  Outside of that though, the highlights become few and far between. 

The band's maturity level (or lack thereof) continues to be the biggest monkey on this band's back.  It's fine to be a party band, but come up with something better than Another F.U. Song (where they basically say f this and f that), and Everybody's Drunk, which is tolerable only because they steal the vocal line from Twisted Sister's We're Not Gonna Take It, albeit with different lyrics.

They even seem to still think the ironic 80s cover is funny, even though it's been played out for five years now.  There's no reason to listen to their cover of Phil Collins' Another Day in Paradise.  If you didn't like the song to begin with, hearing a punk-ska version won't change your mind; if you did like the song, you probably will hate this version.

The re-recordings are a mixed bag as well.  Most of the songs come from the band's first, independent album, Everything Sucks.  Sure, they sound a lot better here than they did there,  but that doesnt' necessarily make them better songs.

Monkeys For Nothin... is a slight improvement from the last record, and I would recommend it hesitantly to longtime fans of the band.  For those looking for an introduction to Reel Big Fish, this shouldn't be it.  Go back to the band's breakthrough Turn the Radio Off or either of the two albums that followed it (Why Do They Rock So Hard and Cheer Up).

3 stars.