Reviews

It is so like Fat Mike and his cronies to try passing off 10-year-old material as a new album worth $10. And it is also like that material to be totally kickass and worth the $10 - that is, for Me First and the Gimme Gimmes fans who don't own the out-of-print vinyls from the Have a Ball days.

The album in question is the punk rock supergroup's latest effort (which is actually a collection of B-sides from the band's debut album, which was released almost eleven years ago), Have Another Ball. As legend has it, the classic hits punk rock cover band recorded enough material for Have a Ball to be a double album, but it wasn't in the cards for all of the tracks to be released. Or, according to Chris Dodge, it was a matter of Me First members being severely assaulted, battered and made to undergo mustache rides by the bands covered on what was going to be the original Have a Ball, the tracks that now appear on Have Another Ball.

Whatever the story, Have Another Ball isn't exactly new material, but for fans who never bought the early Me First 7" vinyls, it is kind of like new, though it is, um, ten years old. The point is, for those that enjoy the spins on/botchery of classic tunes these fine gents have provided the punk scene over the last decade, Have Another Ball is a fine collection of twelve more such spins/botcheries.

Despite missing the cut 10 years ago, this collection of tracks is actually one of the strongest the band has offered, with standouts such as Daryl Hall's "Rich Girl," John Denver's "Country Roads," and Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come." But really, every track is pretty kickass, though the band's rendition of Diana Ross' "Mahogany," while interesting, doesn't quite fit on the album.

Is Have Another Ball mostly more of the same? Sure, but that is exactly what this band was designed for, pumping out the hits...even if those hits are not entirely their own. And the nice thing about covering material from decades past is that it doesn't really matter if these covers are ten years old, or were recorded last year (such is the case with "Sodomy"). It is all good stuff, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes continue to entertain with one of the best gimmicks in punk.