It’s very rare to be surprised by a Reel Big Fish record. They’re ultimately very predictable affairs, always enjoyable and full of tracks that will make you sing and dance, but always predictable with the use of chirpy horns, guitar riffs and Aaron Barrett’s vocal delivery. ‘Fame, Fortune, and Fornication’ is the band’s latest record and is choc-full of cover songs. From Slade to Poison, Tom Petty to Van Morrison, the 10 songs here are eclectic – and while the originals all sound very different, RBF have managed to make each song sound like their own.
The short review would be to say that if you enjoyed ‘Take on Me’ then you will really enjoy this album. Each cover is given the full treatment with bouncy horns and huge singalongs in abundance. It’s like RBF have a machine where they put a song in and it automatically comes out sounding like the band. They have a specific formula and it works for them. ‘Monkey Man’ and ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ are fun covers and work well. In truth none of the tracks are horrendous, they just sound a little similar when listened to one after the other. But RBF fans won’t be fussed and this is as solid a piece of work as the band have put out in a while.