CD Review: Reel Big Fish, Candy Coated Fury

There are different reactions I have when listening to bands I like. One is when I listen to an album and it makes me wish I was in the band. This is the main feeling I got when listening to Reel Big Fish's seventh studio album, Candy Coated Fury.

Many people remember Reel Big Fish from the brief time in the late nineties when ska was in the spotlight. While most of those bands faded with the coming of the next fad, Reel Big Fish have continued their version of rock/punk/ska for more than a decade, and from even a cursory listen, seem to be having an effing good time doing it. For them it's not a fad, it's something they are clearly committed to.

Each aspect of the band, from the horn section, guitars, and drums, are given detailed specific attention in each song, so on their own are polished and expertly weaved into each other. Most songs have the RBF signature horn vignette in between lines of the verses, the part of the song that causes the involuntary movement of head, shoulders, or toe-tapping, whatever way we awkwardly express enjoyment of a good beat.

Candy Coated Fury is the perfect description for this album; those familiar with Reel Big Fish will recognize their contrast of upbeat lively beats and melodies with self-deprecating and scornful lyrics, which provides a delightfully sarcastic message to the target of the lyrics. This is done best on "P.S. I Hate You," "Everyone Else Is An Asshole," and "Your Girlfriend Sucks."

Reel Big Fish are also known for cover songs, and they include a cover of When In Rome's "The Promise." The basis of a good cover song is to take the original structure of the song and put it in a surprisingly new genre, which they accomplish. The quick-tempoed, new age version is turned into a slow, languid funk version, giving it a darker feel. The addition of a sax solo doesn't hurt either. It's not the standout track of the album, but provides some diversity.

The most experimental track is "Hiding In My Headphones," which includes rap verses, reggaesque beats, which sounds more like a mid-nineties hit from 311. It seems to be half tongue-in-cheek, and the other half earnest, which could very well describe the oeuvre of this band's work.

Reel Big Fish's music is a perfect example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Candy Coated Fury is not a huge departure from their other work, but why is there a need to if the energy, enthusiasm, and songwriting abilities are already working for them? I mean, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones didn't make it this far, did they?

Candy Coated Fury: Our Interview With Reel Big Fish's Aaron Barrett

PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Inderrieden

Few bands stay together for fifteen years, much less maintain the energy and creativity like Reel Big Fish. Their mix of rock with ska influences have stood the test of time throughout rock movements and music fads. Multi-year veterans of the Warped Tour, Reel Big Fish are about to release their seventh studio album, Candy Coated Fury. Singer Aaron Barrett spoke with us about the new album, their tour with Goldfinger, and more:

Candy Coated Fury is your seventh album and unlike the last album, consists of original songs instead of covers. How do you decide when to record and release covers or original songs?
Actually, our last release was a "best of" collection and before that, an album of acoustic versions of our songs but the covers album was just a fun thing to do. We had never done a proper covers album and we had no new songs written at the time, so that's why we released Fame, Fortune and Fornication. There's no scientific method to why we do things, it just seemed like a fun idea at the time, and it was a lot of fun to do.

Does Candy Coated Fury represent a new direction musically or lyrically for the band?
Not at all, on this album we are doing what we do best! Candy Coated Fury pretty much describes what Reel Big Fish does. Hateful, mean, sarcastic and sometimes sad lyrics over happy, wacky, silly, joyous, fast music that makes you want to dance. It's candy coated fury and it sums our band, our humor, and message up in 3 words. I definitely was very conscious this time about how danceable the songs were and how they make you move when you listen to them. It had been a long time since I really thought about the danceability of our songs. Also, I was very conscious about the lyrics. I really wanted to recapture that same angry, hateful humor from the first two albums, Turn The Radio Off and Why Do They Rock So Hard?, and I definitely tried to write some angry hateful love songs too because I haven't written any of those in a long time and our first two albums also had a lot of those.

Reel Big Fish, "Sell Out"

From 1996, here's "Sell Out" by Reel Big Fish.

Enjoy!