8.08.2007
Pure Punk Parody or a Peppy Propriety?
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is a conglomerate superstar punk force that has swept my heart by storm this week, but I'm trying to figure out exactly how. They cover the sappiest, happiest superhits of the sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties, in a poppy fun punk style. From Sinnead O'Connor to Seal, they do it all, and at first it just sounds like pure mockery. The singer loves to throw in superfluous "WOO!s" and almost every song finishes not with a fade, but what could only be described as deterioration. They certainly draw attention to the foolishness that passes for the pop industry, and yet, when you really listen to the singer's voice, the pure effort he puts into it, and the talent that goes into production, you begin to wonder if disdain is the only thing driving them. I've started to suspect something different: that maybe what they're trying to do is somehow make bullshit like John Denver and Elton John meaningful to the rest of us, the poor saps who want to shoot ourselves in the face at the thought of a life filled with Top Forty tomfoolery.
