The Aquabats - Charge!

The Aquabats
Charge!
Nitro Records
Grade: A-

Regardless of the environment, I always associate the Aquabats with Travis Barker, the drummer of seemingly every punk band, when he rocked the skins for them early on. Initially and generally unintentionally the SoCal Aquabats were part of the mid-90s ska craze, even though they took an even more fun approach than most ska bands. With the sound’s demise in the music consciousness, so saw a reduction in the Aquabats’ activities and shedding of most of the original fourteen member band. As their first record in six years, the now five-piece Aquabats are back with thirteen songs of some of the most catchy, entertaining and amusing songs you are likely to hear to all year. Detaching much of their ska foundation by hardly including any horns, the Aquabats focus on a punk, electronic new wave sound that indescribably awesome. Of course, you need to have a fondness for uptempo, silly, nonsense songs that make you feel like you drank ten Red Bulls in a sitting. If you are that type than Charge! is going to make you drool and wet yourself. After an intro track, the Aquabats launch into the electronic quirky “Fashion Zombies!” that nods at the Misfits, but includes an incredibly catchy chorus with a bunch of wow-os. “Stuck in a Movie!” carries the vibe before the brilliant “Tiger Rider vs. the Time Sprinkler!” where again the chorus grabs you hard. “Nerd Alert!” issues another call for a nerd revolution, while “Plastic Lips!” surely mocks the nature of SoCal looks. “Look At Me, I’m A Winner!” tells it like it is – that the Aquabats are so out that they are actually cool. After the average “Hot Summer Nights (Won’t Last Forever)!,” “Meltdown!” further delivers on the chorus. Skip “Mechanical Ape!” to get to the hip chorus on “Demolition Rickshaw!.” Charge! closes out on “Waterslides!” with wide synth use and “Awesome Forces!” where the Aquabats perfectly close with high-tempo fun. If nothing else, all of these songs are excellent material for comedy movie soundtracks.