Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers
Incongruent
DFTBA Records (2014)
Sounds like: Devon Kay and the Solutions, The Aquabats and They Might Be Giants filtered through a mind not unlike Bill Nye the Science Guy’s
Score: 8/10
Let’s say you’re a nerd like me who’s also really into pop punk and ska. Is there a band out there just for us? Well, there’s Devon Kay and the Solutions for pop punk, and I guess that one Weird Al song for ska, but us greedy music fans want more. It turns out we’re in luck because at least one other band fits those qualifications – Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers. Although uneven in spots, their debut Incongruent is an insanely fun, deeply thought provoking and often times hilarious album that comes preloaded with infectious glee.
Hank Green, whose day job includes being famous on the internet, has released a number of solo albums over the years, but Incongruent features the scientist (Green has a degree in biochemistry) unleashing his inner Milo Aukerman with the help of backing band the Perfect Strangers (Rob Scallon, Joe DeGeorge and Andrew Huang). Together, they do their best not to tether themselves to just one musical style, though many of the album’s best tracks adhere to the pop punk and ska mold, which makes sense since Green counts classic Lookout! Records acts like The Mr T Experience and Green Day as influences. (side note: why hasn’t anyone created a “Hank Green Day” mash up shirt?)
The irreverent “Hug Scream,” for example, is the best song ALL never wrote, practically bursting with wild aggression and a hook that’s absolutely contagious (and I can’t help but smile when Green explains the steps involved in the titular hug scream). “Oh JK Rowling,” an ode to one of the most popular writers of our time, is in the same vein – peppy and fun with lyrics coming at your a mile a minute making repeat listens a must. “I’d Rather” has harmonies in the chorus that would make The Queers jealous and the infusion of ska gives off a fun, dancy vibe that no one short of Bernie Lomax can resist skanking too. But the “best ska” crown on the album goes to “T-Shirt and Jeans,” a song transformed with the help of the Perfect Strangers from a solid acoustic track to the perfect blast of 3rd wave ska straight from the summer of 1997. It’s the best ska song I’ve heard all year that isn’t by Be Like Max and is bolstered with clever lyrics that paint pants as the great equalizer.
My favorite track on the album is Incongruent opener and first single “I Fucking Love Science.” This song, pulling from Green’s background as creator of the online environmental technology blog EcoGeek as well as producing “SciShow” on YouTube, sets out to answer the question of “what would happen if Greg Graffin fronted the Mr T Experience” with lyrics like:
“Cause I don’t think it’s bold to question what you’re told
If you’re told that the world’s a thousand years old.
There’s nothing here to argue against
It’s a process not an ideology,
And I fucking love science”
It strikes against a religious establishment that often holds back scientific advancements, but what really makes this song shine is the earnest and unrestrained glee found in the delivery, with Green not only using the song as a takedown but as a showcase for, as the title proclaims, why he fucking loves science (also, I just really like doing the “air drum solo” thing in my car during the bridge). From “Exoplanets, galaxies, DNA, germ theory, relativity” to “hot running water, and memory foam beds, and TV shows and cell phones, and not being dead” you can just hear the love with every syllable. It’s the passionate delivery that gets the album over some hurdles and gets me to recommend it.
And as much as I want to go on and praise the Springsteen-esq vibe of “Marilyn Hanson” or the punked up version of the song Green is best known for “Accio Deathly Hallows,” I do feel there are a couple of weak tracks here. The full English translation of “Gangnam Style,” for example, is the kind of song that wears out its welcome fast. Even those of us who generally avoid the radio and clubs have already heard the original ad nauseam and outside of the lyrical translation its just that same song again here. “Undigested Lump” is a bit too radio rock and “Video Game Books” is similarly a bit too plodding for my tastes.
Due to Hank Green’s internet fame, I know there’s going to be a knee jerk reaction to label this album as him simply LARPing as a bandleader, but the catchiness of the tunes, the quirky lyrics and the strength of the backing band (again, just check out that drum solo in “I Fucking Love Science”) is enough to overcome the few missteps and land itself in rotation as one of the summer’s best listens.
Incongruent is out now via Green’s DFTBA Records.
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