ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMIES “Blow In The Wind”

This is the third full-length of fantastic cover songs from these wacky Californians. To be honest, when this project first surfaced most than four years ago, I really didn’t think they’d have much staying power, as it appeared to be a bit too gimmicky, but low and behold – punking up popular songs that nearly everyone knows has proven to be quite effective – and profitable, as nearly 500,000 ME FIRST cds have been sold worldwide. Although I still think ME FIRST committed tremendous heresy when they put out songs that both you and parents could enjoy, I can’t help but be sucked into how undeniably catchy and talented these guys are. “Blow in the Wind,” features 60s tunes this time around, including such classics as, “Sloop John B,” “Who put the Bomp,” (that songs just cracked me up…), “My Boyfriends Back,” “All My Lovin’,” “San Francisco,” (one of my fav. all-time tunes), “Runaway,” and a few others. Each song is done with precision, but without much flair. ME FIRST didn’t really “punk” up the tunes, they just knocked the tempo up a few notches and added a heck of a lot of distortion. And ya know, I’m glad they didn’t ruin the songs, because I almost think a few of them are more accessible now than ever before. I’ve always loved how ME FIRST manage to slip in parts of other punk tunes into their covers, and my favorite one this time around is how BAD RELIGION’s intro to “Infected,” shows up unexpectedly. That definitely threw me for a loop. “Blow in the Wind,” is not really an essentially disc, but it sure makes for good listening on car trips and walks to class.

Fat Wreck

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