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Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo

Five Iron Frenzy - Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo Audio CD

A fair review of the Five Iron Frenzy "Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Five Iron Frenzy reviews here, or go back to the Five Iron Frenzy tabs.

Band: Five Iron Frenzy
Title: Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-11-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Pre-Ex-Girlfriend 2: Far, Far Away 3: You Can't Handle This 4: Farsighted 5: Spartan 6: Day We Killed 7: Juggernaut 8: Plan B 9: Blue Mix 10: Vultures 11: Car 12: Eulogy

One of FIF's Most Powerful Albums
On this album they have left their straight ska sound behind, and have gone down a more neo-New Wave path, a la Fountains of Wayne with horns. Although I am not a Christian, I am still able to enjoy FIF's music, which is incredibly unique.

In response to one reviewer who called "The Day We Killed" the equivalent of "musical Spam": you missed the entire point of the song! The vocals utilized in this song are screams because of the deep anguish the band feels for what the United States has done and continues to do to Native Americans; they are the only sort of vocals which fit this song. Crazy Horse was a Dakota chief killed by the U. S. Army, and in the song is utilized also as a metaphor for the various Native American people's. The song is certainly not about "American Indians" named Crazy Horse, and no, he didn't get beat up at school, but was murdered by the U. S. Army, as were hundreds of thousands of Native Americans. This is actually one of the best FIF songs, in my opinion.

Very Good
It took me awhile to get into it, because I was used to hearing some of the songs on their live cds. Five Iron never fails to deliver.

But, that said:

There are really powerful songs on this cd, along with some goofy ones. FIF's unique style is as pleasing as always. I couldn't give it 5 stars because there's no hidden tracks -- come on, that's half the fun, getting extras! Though if you look at it from a different angle, no hidden tracks mean that you can put the songs onto a playlist without minutes of empty space.

Over all, FIF gets my applause. .

So very Powerful!
Though, I cannot say it is better than the others, they have all captivated me in a way no other ban has come close to doing. If you like Five Iron Frenzy, or ska music, or Rock music, you cannot dislike this CD! This is quite possibly FIF's hardest hitting, most powerful CD to date. This band is, in my opinion, the best our gerenation has yet seen! Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

It will dominate your life
Listeners beware, though: these songs will get stuck in your head like bubble gum in your hair. I am the proud owner of three FIF cds (Newest album, End is Near, Boogaloo) and this one dominates them all. They will be running through you brain all day so loud that people sitting next to you will probably hear them too.
Pre-ex-girlfriend is possibly one of the best and funniest songs I have ever heard. The blasting brass (and saxophone) will have you jumping around in your room so much you'll probably be decapitated by the ceiling fan. If you're having one of those days where everything goes wrong (your dog dies, you lose your job, a madman abducts your children, you're shot three times in the abdomen), listen to song number 8, Plan B. The rhythms are quite cheerful. Track 11, Car, will, if you are listening to it in your car, probably cause you to plummet over a cliff because excessive head banging will impair your driving.
In this day and age when people will buy an album for one good song while all the others sound like the musical equivalent of Spam, you can rest assured that on this cd there are only to bad songs. Case 1: The Day We Killed. The dragging, ear-splitting sounds coupled with lyrics that are about American Indians named "Crazy Horse" (I bet he got beat up by all the other kids at school) make this song easily skippable. Case 2: Eulogy. This song lacks compelling beat. It is deeply poetic and, as a result, hard to decipher. Plus, the tempo is as slow as a one-legged race-horse. But please, do not let this defer you.
Whether or not you are considering buying Electric Boogaloo, you should purchase it. CDs like this do not come out every day. Just be sure not to listen to it in the car. .

When you want to rock . . .
No ska rhythms, no rockabilly, no new wave comparisons. An Atlanta band called Loudflower released an album in 1997 entitled "Happy Now?" Their label, Gray Dot Records (Third Day), hoped to cash in on the ska-core craze by signing a band with a knack for writing emotive rock and roll backed by a horn section. Just straight-ahead rock in the Americana realm with some horns in the background, just enough to emphasize melody and structure.

Five Iron Frenzy has never been one to follow a trend. If, as a serious musician, you didn't read any reviews and delayed in purcahsing "Electric Boogaloo" because you thought it might be as annoying as some of the tracks on "All the Hype that Money Can Buy", join the club. If you also feel stupid for having waited so long to buy it, your feelings of self-deprication are understandable. FIF pushed through with a blistering rock album that emotes without being overly emotive, ponders without being self-important, and satisfies the harder rock yearnings of its base of fans.

I'm not going to give a blow-by-blow of each song. Suffice it to say that this is one of the stronger, tighter records of FIF's career, second only to their magnum opus "The End is Near". The band understands that for one to rock and still sound viable, one must rock steady if they are to rock at all. The dual-guitar techniques of playing alternate lead riffs opposite the other is still in place here, although the arrangements are somewhat more intricate. The horn arrangements threaten to knock the wind out of you, but don't become annoying or overpowering. Unfortunately, unlike Loudflower's knack for making the horn arrangements part of the structure of each song, FIF's horns seem to be more along the lines of countermelodies, filling space left by sustained vocals and spacious chord progressions.

Since everything here is pretty much full volume, there's not really much room for the band to move around. It's all in your face, hypoglycemic, ADHD-injected music, and it may be best to take it in small bites rather than swallowing everything whole. Add to the that first four songs sound a little tiresome if you listen to them back to back, as vocalist Reese Roper's vocals are set within the same high range for a significant amount of time. While effective in the songs themselves, combining all of them together can grate on the unassuming ear. Probably the biggest reason why I'm rating this 4 stars instead of 5.

Otherwise, a major kick-butt album. Buy it now before Christ returns and it's too late.

You can see a complete list of all Five Iron Frenzy discography, or go back to the Five Iron Frenzy tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.