The Vandals frustrate me immensely. At times they play some of the best pop-punk songs heard this side of Blink 182, yet at others they play the most banal drivel you’ll ever have the misfortune to hear. On every Vandals record there is always a crock of gold that you’ll find at the end of the rainbow, but at the same time there’s always a shower of shit. With ‘Look What I Almost Stepped In’, I’m happy to say that the former heavily outweigh the latter.
What The Vandals are good at is bringing humour into their songs, yet keeping them clever enough to not make them too obvious. And ‘Behind The Music’, surely a VH1 pastiche, is a perfect example. With a chorus which kicks some ass, and verses that are so quick it’s impossible to draw breath, it’s a near perfect kick-off. And having seen the band perform this live, I can tell you that there is no aide from technology here. ‘Sorry Mom And Dad’ continues the pacey start with a fantastic opening, but it then goes off into stereotypical Vandals territory – good, but instantly forgetable. It’s not that this is particularly bad, it’s just that it takes forever to actually get going.
‘Go’ reminds me of The Smurfs on speed at the outset, but improves as it goes on. It doesn’t quite plummet to the depths that their country songs full-lengther did, but again it’s not the best example of The Vandals at work. So at this point it’s not looking good. So it’s a good job that ‘The New You’ is a fantastic song. Much slower than the first three, it’s a great singalong song and emphasises how good this band can be when they have a think about what they are doing. ‘Flowers Are Pretty’ is a bit strange, but then so are the band, so there’s nothing new there then. Again it seems a bit more thoughtful and carefully crafted, and the verse was also built to singalong in the shower.
The Dexter Holland penned ‘Jackass’ is the standout song by far. It’s probably the second best Vandals song ever too, behind ‘My Girlfriend’s Dead’ obviously. With such a simple riff it’s the perfect way to show how a pop-punk song should be written. If The Vandals put out an entire record of ‘Jackass’-esque songs, they’d be slagged for selling out, but that would be unfair. ‘What About Me?’ is also a tad slower than some of their earlier stuff, and is ok. Fans will lap it up, but I doubt many people would be converted on hearing this. You may be pleased to hear that ‘You’re Not The Boss Of Me’ isn’t that song from the TV show ‘Malcolm In The Middle’. Instead it’s a fantastic song which is really what the Vandals are all about. Like their best songs on this record, it’s more considered, and lyrically it has that tongue-in-cheek feel that you just love about them.
Following on, ‘I’m The Boss Of Me’ is a 100mph thrashier effort, which isn’t bad but compared to some of the standout songs on this CD, just pales into insignificance. ‘That’s My Girl’ starts off with an organ and some very strange vocals. For all of 20 seconds thankfully. Then it reverts to The Vandals again. It’s catchy enough, but there’s nothing that will knock you out. ‘Get A Room’ is funny lyrically but not that great musically, and ‘San Berdu’ is good without being spectacular. With an interesting intro, ‘Crippled and Blind’ is again better-than-average without delivering a knockout blow. So it’s a good job that ‘Fourteen’ is one of the funniest songs you’ll ever hear. When the band are funny they usually pull it off successfully, and there’s probably no better example than this. With a chorus to die for, [“Well I can’t make love to you because you’re fourteen years old”] it’s a mini stroke of genius.
So, The Vandals. When they’re good, they’re very good. The rest of the time they’re average. Still, at least with this record the good moments outweigh the bad ones. They are one of the most entertaining live bands I have ever seen, and whilst as a band I’m not particularly sold on them, this record is a damn fine example of catchy pop-punk at its very best.
Paul Savage