Five Iron Frenzy - "Our Newest Album Ever"
Year: 1997
Label: 5 Minute Walk
Favorite songs: Every New Day, Handbook for the Sellout, Fistful of Sand, Most Likely to Succeed, Oh Canada, Superpowers
Lyric sample: "Under the sands of the mighty Sahara goes / Our hero bold in search of gold / A casket for a dying world / Our hero stands, wealth in hand / The prize for his endeavor / The masses cheer to hide their fear / That no man lives forever"
Ah, Five Iron Frenzy. I suspect that there are those out there who think that the gang from Colorado is just a bunch of silly goons without any real talent or foundation. After all, they present a rather playful image of themselves as ska bands are known to do. It took me a while to begin seeing the value in them myself. One of the first Five Iron songs I ever heard was "Where is Micah" from this record, playing on the radio station that my friend's church used to operate. It was an odd song, and I wasn't sure about the quality or purpose of the whole thing. It didn't exactly convert me into a die-hard fan of the group. It took me being reintroduced to them during the Boogaloo era and then getting into their older songs through the live album Proof That the Youth are Revolting before I was ready to come back and give Our Newest Album Ever, the newest no longer, a second sporting chance. Indeed, the live record sums up much of the best of Five Iron's early career, and the amount of material that comes from this record is telling. Our Newest Album Ever's track list reads like a catalogue of the band's greatest hits. It's easily the strongest outing from the first (more ska) half of their run, and gives all the other records some solid competition as well.
Yet what surprised me most was that the actual product is not simply a collection of songs from an unusual bunch of punks and band geeks finding their place. It's actually a cohesive, moving piece of work, the trademark humor serving as a jarring contrast to the profound themes that it also confronts. The record is almost split half and half between silliness and poignancy, and that split sometimes occurs down the middle of songs.
It takes eight people to comprise the wondrous wonders of Five Iron Frenzy, but let's take a moment to look at the ones that stand out the most. The voice of the band, one Mr. Michael Reese Roper, does much to distinguish Five Iron Frenzy from a host of cheap imitators. His vocal delivery here is much improved from the first record. It sounds much smoother and meshes nicely with the sound that the band is establishing. His greatest addition, though, is surely his lyrics. Playful, sarcastic, poetic, blunt, angry, worshipful... it's a staggering mix that delivers many moments of poignancy throughout the album. Matched with perfect musical touches thanks to a melodic writing team including trombonist Dennis Culp and then-guitarist Scott Kerr, Roper's lyrics pierce to the heart of various issues in ways that I can't really describe. I don't know if anyone feels the way I do about this record. It kind of makes me feel at a loss to explain myself. It's a lot of fun. It's a peppy, energetic sing a long. But as I'm bobbing my head, I end up feeling deep emotions.
"Handbook for the Sellout," one of the band's best and most famous songs, starts out the record. It's a rousing opening, giving you Five Iron's trademark sound. Two overdriven (but not grungy) guitars panned left and right playing harmonizing power chords, a brass section peppering melodies on top, punk-ish drums and bright chords on the upbeat during the verses. Palm-muting in the bridge, a swelling prechorus and a very catchy four-line, four-chord chorus. The enduring song is about the politics of record labels and band popularity, pointing fingers at the ridiculous game that goes on in the industry and governs popularity, what you can and cannot sing about, and whether a band is perceived as original or as sellouts. "Where is Micah" is an in-joke about the band's guitar player Micah Ortega disappearing and being left behind at shows. Then comes "Superowers," a zany depiction of the band themselves as having powers gained from smelly bus rides and no practice. "Five minutes left to write this one / la, la la, la la, la la la."
Then comes one of my favorite songs in the FIF canon, "Fistful of Sand." This darker turn about the worthlessness of worldly treasures in the face of man's mortality marks the first of several sublime passages on the record. There's something in the lines "Where cities stood, soon deserts found / Now sink beneath the swelling ground" and "The masses cheer to hide their fear / That no man lives forever" that gives pause. Even as these lines lead us, toe-tapping, from the verse into the chorus, they hit on very real anxieties that have plagued not just individuals but entire empires since the earliest times. A similar instance appears near the end of the album in the song "Most Likely To Succeed." "And as you go / Call to mind the things you've come to know / Be sure to wave goodbye / On the day you die / To all that you wanted / You're leaving behind." It's chilling words for those whose last hope is in their accomplishments on earth.
In the meantime, Five Iron writes about lost family heirlooms ("Blue Comb '78"), the treatment of Native Americans ("Banner Year"), the treatment of nerds in grade school ("Suckerpunch") and, of course, Canadians ("Oh, Canada"). Then, at the end of it all, comes perhaps the band's best song, the one both they and their fans seem to esteem above the others. That song is "Every New Day." One of the all-time great ending songs, "Every New Day" is a catchy little praise song in its first half - but then the bridge kicks in and Reese begins speaking his lines, slowly raising his voice until he nearly shouts (on the live album, he screams the last part). The finale is beautiful, affirming, and transcendent. It gives me chills just about every time I hear it. It's a perfect finish to an amazing record. This album has to be heard to be believed, though I'm not sure what it takes to be understood. Maybe just a willing heart.
My newest link ever! Dance on over to this rad video for Handbook for the Sellout with some classic FIF concert footage. Oh, and the scenes at the beginning and end are from the movie King Kong vs. Godzilla.
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