Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Are We Not Men? We Are Diva!
Fat Wreck Chords (2014)
Sounds like: Your love of punk rock and memories of your mom’s favorite radio station colliding on a halfpipe
Score: 8/10
You know that meme that circulates about three times a year that says “You can fairly judge a man based on what movie he knows Tim Curry from?” I feel like the same could be said of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes’ albums. Grew up in the south? Love Their Country. Big folk fan? Blow in the Wind. Are you a theatre geek? Are a Drag (and hey, it’s even got a song originally from a Tim Curry film!) For me, I grew up in close quarters to my mom and sister during the 80s and 90s and as such knew from the pre-tracklist announcement of Are We Not Men? We Are Diva, that these songs were going to resonate with me. The tracklisting just made my appetite grow and after a number of listens, I won’t say it eclipses my personal favorite (Have a Ball – what can I say, I spent four years working in the biggest haven for 70s adult contemporary – the grocery store) but it comes damn close.
The punk rock supergroup featuring past and present members of Swingin’ Utters, NOFX, No Use For a Name, and Lagwagon – gives “My Heart Will Go On” a makeover so Gipsy-tinged Gogol Bordello would blush. Handclaps and accordion transform the original slog of a song into a huge dance party, possibly the kind you’d actually see in the lower levels of the famous schooner. Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” already has one famous cover, and while I dig both the Parton original and the gigantic Houston number, the Ramonescore makeover Me First gives the song is really fun, and befits the over-the-top lovelorn lyrics. One of my favorite things about the Gimmes is the way they blend classic punk samples in their covers (think the “Generator”/”My Favorite Things” combo from Are a Drag). One of the most glaring – and awesome – examples is found in their cover of Paula Adbul’s “Straight Up,” which borrows its intro from protopunk band Evil’s “45 Grave.” Similarly, Buzzcocks’ “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” is mashed together with the Me First’s cover of Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon” to great effect. While these act mostly just as fun Easter eggs for fans of old school punk rock I like how they also work to showcase how as much as punk fans try to avoid “pop music,” we are all fans of the same chord progressions (see: “Ice Cream Changes” for more obvious examples).
One song on this album I was really dreading was “Beautiful,” originally performed by Christina Aguilera. I loathe the original. Not only was it played out in its time, but Aguilera makes singing sound like a chore. While Aguilera is known for having a powerful voice, certainly more powerful than Slawson, power isn’t everything and one of the best criticisms I’ve ever heard of her comes from Todd in the Shadows, who said in his best of 2013 video that “Christina Aguilera makes [singing] look like grueling work.” Slawson and company definitely don’t come off like those participating in grueling work. You can practically see Slawson’s smile while crooning on this song and I’ve already spun back this cover about a dozen times (and those backing vocals by Fat Mike really help bring the whole thing together).
“Crazy for You,” originally by Madonna, at first feels like it might be a repeat of the formula the band used on “I Believe I Can Fly,” arguably their best known cover. This borrows a riff from “The Tide Is High” by Jamaican rocksteady band The Paragons, but probably best known covered by Blondie. The song starts off with that familiar ukulele and right when it feels like it’s about to go balls to the wall fast like the former, it actually doesn’t. The band does a great job with that false anticipation on first listen (there’s even a slight pause) and while I’m sure some punk purists aren’t going to like the minimal take on the song (the only other instrument that appears on the track is a sax) I’m putting it out there that not only is it my favorite track on the album, but it’s the best take on Madge since Mandonna covered “Like a Prayer” in the Happy Endings season 2 finale. The only song I feel challenges it for Me First song of the year is their gloriously cheesy take on the, well, gloriously cheesy “Believe” by Cher. Slawson actually sounds uncannily similar to Cher, something I’d never really noticed before. And I can’t help but barrel over laughing on those choruses where it sounds like he swallowed a T-Pain MIC.
This is a Me First album so even if your knowledge of female vocalists doesn’t quite hit Pulsar level, you’re still going to have fun, even if not all the songs resonate with you (I only really know Streisand from when she fought Robert Smith on South Park and didn’t really grow up with the Carpenters). You might not be able to sing each lyric the first time or catch every little punk rock reference but hey, you’ve got those trademark Slawson “YEAHs” thrown in and honestly, I’ don’t see myself ever getting tired of that.
Me First bassist Fat Mike (best known for his work with California punk rockers False Alarm) has been quoted as saying that the band picks their songs not specifically because they fit a theme but because they’re great songs and that unironic love for songs that many might find cheesy makes this another endearing win for the covers. Whether or not this Me First LP ends up your favorite I think we can all agree that answering the above question with any of their albums only really says one thing about a person and it’s that that person is rad for knowing and liking the Gimmes.
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