Reel Big Fish: Why do they rock so hard?

Reel Big Fish's music isn't that hard to recognize. The first four tracks on this disc could switch places with any four on their debut album, Turn the Radio Off, and neither CD would lose much. But don't assume that every song is the same rehashed ska tune. "Song #3"--the album's 10th track--opens with a keen vocal introduction by Coolie Ranx, a guy who sounds a lot like Sugar Ray's reggae rapper. A buoyant guitar, bass, and drums join his spoken playfulness, and the song develops into a reggae shuffle, dabbling with horns, until it turns into a friskier brass-fest.

Tracks nine and 15 also diverge from the norm. "Everything is Cool" is basically therapy for hypocrites. With guttural renditions of "I'm so glad you're gone/ You just led me on" strewn between fake-smile chantings of "Everything is cool/ How are things with you," it's a lot like Turn's "Skatanic," another song that just plain scares the hell out of me. "We Care" is the band's "We are the Champions"--an unhurried, unruffled stroll down Self-Confidence Lane. It's much slower than anything else on the CD, which means headbanging to its mild spirit is a lot like giving a high-five to an animatronic doll on "It's A Small World."

But "The Set Up [You Need This]" is the kind of song you can hear just once and immediately know it'll be the one they play on the radio. It's just that good. It starts at breakneck speed, each member contributing within the opening three seconds. The band jumps right into its prototypical "Dammit, listen up" prelude with such alacrity that one almost forgets that the track's fervor is actually enjoyable, not irritating. Admittedly, the song should end 30 seconds earlier, without the drawn-out la-di-da ending. Nonetheless, the first 3:52 is frighteningly superb.

"Victory Over Peter Bones," track 16, is clearly the album's odd man out. With its ballroom-esque tenderness, it's more appropriate for a Yale Alumni reception than the end of a strong ska album. The tune has no lyrics, and the band's typically generous use of loud breaks, usually performed by a trumpet or trombone, is replaced with long tones of waltz-like extravagance. On its own, the tune is actually quite good, but when paired with "We Care" at the end of the CD, "Victory" ends the album on a low note, just as many of the disc's otherwise energetic individual tracks fizzle to a close.

Throughout Why Do They Rock So Hard?, Reel Big Fish displays maturity and initiative, tinkering with potent strains without forgetting what ska fans expect. For a reel big catch, look no further than Toad's on Mon., Mar. 1. (Mojo)

--Aaron Zamost

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