Fight Fair - California Kicks
Rating
RIYL
The Beach BoysThe Jonas Bros
Terrible music
Release Date
06/29/2010
Label
Triple CrownTracklist
1. California Girls2. I’ve Got A Secret
3. SexyFancyMoney
4. Diner Date
5. Wayo Beach
6. California Kicks
7. Party Girl
8. Livin’ For The Summer
9. Lovely Little Girl
10. Going Nowhere
11. Love
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It is only once in awhile that you find bands bold enough to change their genre completely for a new album. Fight Fair were originally a pop punk band with hardcore influences; a genre that seems to have a lot of potential with the size of the current fan base. Unfortunately, the band decided to try and conquer a completely different territory: surf pop. Surf pop may be a dead genre to most, but Fight Fair have decided to try to revive it.
The album opens with “California Girls”, which is not as catchy as Katy Perry's song of the same name. The lyrics are dull, talking about how awesome California girls are because they like to ride the rides at Disneyland. The next song, “I've Got A Secret”, sounds like something a thirteen year old boy might write for his junior high sweetheart. This band doesn't even have anything on Justin Bieber; the lyrics and music are boring with no sign of being catchy at all.
Single word song titles like “Sexyfancymoney” already seem like a bad song waiting to happen. Just as predicted, this song blows. There is nothing catchy about this song, even the chorus just seems to be a guy yelling out random words. “Diner Date” is a terrible rip on 1950's rock, full of “doo-wops” and some unnecessary lyrics about going on a date... at a diner. What's an album about California without a song about the beach? “Wayo Beach” is exactly what one would hope for: a song about having fun on the beach. Of course, it is horrendous, but it doesn't stray away from the album's theme at all. The album's title track, “California Kicks”, is, unexpectedly, about hanging out all day in California and eating Del Taco.
The rest of the album is terrible. It's not even worth writing about the remaining five songs. They are exactly what is expected from the first half of the album, full of songs about the sun, the beach, girls, and having fun. The state of California is much better than this album and band. The Disney music market may be booming, but this band has no place in a market aiming for twelve-year-olds. You would almost think that sometime while they were recording this album, one of the band's friends would have said, “Are you fucking serious?” That's the exact reaction you'll probably get with this album, lacking “hits” but definitely full of misses.
--Dylan Newell
Comments
Wisconsin
incredibly disappointed by this. i was a fan of their old stuff.
Independence, KY
This is so sad. I like their old EP alot but this is just awful. They were really great at Warped though.
Oh, and Jonas Brothers in the RIYL just hurts. ahahah
Atascadero, CA
got through half the first song and it was one of the worst songs ive heard in a long time. wow, just wow.
Decoymusic.com (CEO/Founder)
Blue Reef Design Studios (Web Development)
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Fishers, Indiana
Does it still count as selling out if you don't get any more famous for it?
Top Albums: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 || Tumblr | Twitter
Infinitely Inwards
They should headline a Tour with Ion Dissonance....I'm sure the kids would love that.
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
ERRA - Impulse
Aborted - Global Flatline
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
Wilmington DE
Is it me or does this still sound pretty much like there old stuff musically but with really crappy vocals. Maybe I need to listen to there old stuff again but the new stuff sounds like generic pop-punk...Im not getting a strong surf vibe except by the goofy way they are dressed, bad lyricsand a few doo-wops. Every song is just distorted power chords.
Listening to:
Tides of Man
Oceansize
The Contortionist
We are the City
Periphery
"I can't wait for the weekend because it gives me a reason to lose control as we rock 'n roll all night long".
Wollongong, New South Wales
i thought "nay...nothing could be that bad." alas, i was wrong. holy crap this is terrible.
Green Brook, NJ
the EP was pretty awesome. but this was just dreadful. i can't believe the guys at triple crown spent money on this shit.
Bronx, New York City
i can't believe i'm the only dissenting opinion; you guys are crazy. maybe i'm just an idiot but i think that this album being incredibly corny and shallow is the point. the whole record reminds me of the Travoltas, which is a very good thing. all in all it's epically derivative and remarkably lame, but that's what makes it fun. it's the perfect summer beach music, the best album to blare out of your car with the windows open on the Cross Bronx Expressway (it's better than all the reggaeton comin from everyone else's car).
--FTTW--
Minnesota
I'm having a hard time reconciling "epically derivative and remarkably lame" with "good".
They may be trying to be ironic and hoping their fans will ironically listen to their utter shite, but I'm not buying it. This is just horrible tripe.
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Illinois
if it's some kind of lame joke, i didn't get it.
last.fm/user/tragedyl0ve
twitter.com/1000cleverlines
1000cleverlines.tumblr.com
Bronx, New York City
a lame joke is exactly what this album is.
why are "epically derivative and remarkably lame" mutually exclusive? maybe it's an issue with my personal lexicon, as i don't consider "lame" to be a negative thing in most contexts. i probably use it more in the vein of"something that i enjoy that i imagine most people would make fun of me mercilessly for." as far as the derivative comment, i find it hard to imagine you don't enjoy at least some bands that fall under that umbrella. not everything can break new ground, nor should everything have to.
bottom line is this: i like really dumb music sometimes, it has the ability to make me smile and sing along without even realizing it. sometimes dumb music is just what you need on a hot and awfully humid summer night while you sit in brutal traffic. this album makes me almost happy to be stuck in such a situation, it's just that uplifting. and to me that more that makes up for it's shortcomings.
and for what it's worth, this is pretty far away from my preferred genres which sway heavily toward anything that could be considered skatepunk or melodic hardcore (of the No Trigger/Crime In Stereo variety), though i like all sorts of shit.
(btw, i'm reasonably new here (never really posted before) and i'm really glad to see this isn't just a huge "you're -a-fag!!!-fest" like so many other music sites are.)
--FTTW--
Minnesota
We try to be nice, even though most of us are curmudgeony old men.
As for this being dumb music to enjoy, I think what most of the previous comments were trying to express is that even for dumb, guilty pleasure style music this is just plain bad.
Find me EVERYWHERE:
that's because we're all fags, so welcome :)
Bronx, New York City
well, i think we can all agree that, at least sometimes, i like some terrible music. =)
and finally, a site where i'm not the oldest person!
--FTTW--
yeah that belongs to me I believe.
Bronx, New York City
well remember, as a wise guy i lived with once said: "you're only as old as who you put your penis in". so a nice 22 year old girl (or guy) should do the trick nicely.
--FTTW--
Dubuque
Wow, Fight Fair 4 Life. Good for you. Go back to their forums and stay there. You don't like that someone else doesn't like your favorite band, here's a tissue. Cry.
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Wilmington DE
You always need someone like that to bring in the fair and balance. And for what its worth I have taken a different stance then most people on this site and say that they have been trash since their creation.
Listening to:
Tides of Man
Oceansize
The Contortionist
We are the City
Periphery
I have the feeling this is gonna HURT.
We had a grammar teacher that helped us express ourselves the right way, if that counts for something.
I love you.
Spokane, Washington
we need hobbies? who's the one searching out bad reviews for their ultra-favorite band, creating accounts on review sites, and telling us we're angry because we aren't the one's creating the shitty music.
you need a hobby, and better taste in music.
current listenings:
Of Virtue - "Heartsounds"
Capsule - "No Ghost"
Century - "Red Giant"
James Vincent McMorrow - "Early In The Morning"
Blind Pilot - "We Are The Tide"
Fishers, Indiana
Please continue posting here. I really do have nothing better to do than run my mouth and complain about good bands and the great CDs they put out. It's one of my only HOBBYS. I need upstanding and objective citizens like you to keep me in line. I'm such a blabber mouth wack job! :(
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