Ruin Johnny's Bar Mitzvah [CD]

So anyways, I'm checking my post one day and the package arrives including the Joel Hits, some Clash, and the New Gimmie Gimmies. Scanning the back of the Gimmie Gimmies i see a few tracks that whet my appetite, Heart of Glass and Strawberry Fields among them. I mean heck, even lame Me first albums have a few hits. And then i see it: Track 09 - The Longest Time. Now, i don't know about you, but that's some voodoo stuff right there. I know Simon Cowell goes to Karaoke bars to pick songs for his talentless Satan spawned minions to cover, but now it seems Mike and Co are scanning Irish radio.

Anyways, i cue the beast up, and after a short burst of our very own Suspect Device (this is getting freaky yo) we hit it. And damn do they hit it. And lo do i crease myself dancing. So i rewind this sucker and give it the full whack. After some kid saying some prayer (sorry, but there ain't too many barmitzfah's in Ireland) we get Stairway To Heaven. This song has to be pretty fricken high in my all time top one crappy songs, so to hear it played badly is excruciating. But once it kicks in, it's not so bad. End of the song, we get some quality chatter from Spike, dying on his ass in front of a crowd of literally dozens of people. Then, some mistakes aside we get quality covers of Heart Of Glass, Strawberry Fields (complete with many many more mistakes) and On My Mind (surprisingly good actually).

For the past few years, in my opinion, Gimmie Gimmie albums have been waning. For what it's worth, i think maybe they backed themselves into a corner with the Theme Album idea, which saw many pointless songs being covered. I mean, back in the day, those first two albums were incredible. Hell, my sister's married with a kid, and amongst the Coldplay and Smiths CDs in her car lie them two Me First CDs, and lemmie tell ya, they ain't rusting. Their last album, take a break, was something of an improvement, but this record is, to me, a return to form. Without a unifying theme to hold them back, Me First can mix and match absolute classics of entirely different themes, and to great effect. The fact that this is a live record also allows that sense of humor to run riot. So fingers crossed this is a sign of things to come. Whatever they come up with to top playing a bar mitzvah, lets hope they keep the variety on offer here.

Never followers of convention, the self proclaimed 'greatest punk cover band in the world' have not only pulled off a coup of live album quality, but have done it in the most unlikely of settings... a brave young fan's passage to manhood, his Bar Mitzvah! Led by neo punk legend Fat Mike, the Gimme Gimmes here race through a gloriously riotous set of 'brand new' cover versions, no doubt delighting (or horrifying!) the guests gathered for Jonny's big day.

Among the tracks given the MFATGG re-imagination are Blondie's Heart Of Glass, Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven and The Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever, even Hava Nagila is given the treatment... to the tune of Felix Navidaz! Although it sounds like it was recorded in a tiny function room, no wait, it WAS recorded in a tiny function room; there is a hugely infectious energy ready to catch you off-guard and that is the genius of the Gimme Gimmes. They may not play any of their own tunes but they infuse everything they do with a tongue in cheek charm and vigour that makes the tunes recognisable but instantly the newly acquired property of the band. Blitzing through their set but never losing any of their studio tightness, MFATGG may well be the new family function phenomena, and I'll bet those gathered never knew being Jewish could be so much fun.

Never followers of convention, the self proclaimed 'greatest punk cover band in the world' have not only pulled off a coup of live album quality, but have done it in the most unlikely of settings... a brave young fan's passage to manhood, his Bar Mitzvah! Led by neo punk legend Fat Mike, the Gimme Gimmes here race through a gloriously riotous set of 'brand new' cover versions, no doubt delighting (or horrifying!) the guests gathered for Jonny's big day.

Among the tracks given the MFATGG re-imagination are Blondie's Heart Of Glass, Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven and The Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever, even Hava Nagila is given the treatment... to the tune of Felix Navidaz! Although it sounds like it was recorded in a tiny function room, no wait, it WAS recorded in a tiny function room; there is a hugely infectious energy ready to catch you off-guard and that is the genius of the Gimme Gimmes. They may not play any of their own tunes but they infuse everything they do with a tongue in cheek charm and vigour that makes the tunes recognisable but instantly the newly acquired property of the band. Blitzing through their set but never losing any of their studio tightness, MFATGG may well be the new family function phenomena, and I'll bet those gathered never knew being Jewish could be so much fun.