The Triangle

Issue date: 7/25/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Recess Records "New Animals" will make you want to dance to the fuzzy, pop punk tunes from The Bananas. Their most recent album can be purchased from Recessrecords.com.

It's not too often I hear a band with a sound that matches their name well, but it seems like The Bananas can pull it off. Maybe it's just me being crazy, but I can totally see banana creatures playing this kind of music. Alright, I guess that is a little insane, but it fits the music well, especially with how wacky it is.

These guys have been a band for at least 15 years now, and they don't seem to be slowing down at all.

Every single one of their albums is an insane explosion of pop punk that's perfect to dance to, and their most recent release, "New Animals," is quickly becoming my favorite of the bunch.

As the beginning chords to the first song, "Gentrification for Dummies," hit, it's almost like a hand reaching out, inviting you to come along on a trip. With the album's high and low points like "1-2-3-4-5" and "Nobody Loves You," this one comes at you like a rollercoaster.

In the album's title track, The Bananas invite us to dream of new animals, new enemies, and like this album, brand new music that no-one's ever heard. Even to folks that have heard every album by The Bananas, this still holds some surprises. I think by this point they've perfected their formula. It's a little fuzzy, but still not that noisy. A little poppy, but still punk, and has the perfect amount of sing-a-longs and melodies for anyone to bop to. For a pop punk band nowadays, it's very hard to stand out, but these guys are doing everything right. I haven't seen a band play pop punk like this since Scared of Chaka was still putting out records.

I realized as I sang along to "Things Will Get Worse," how amazingly they can pair some bum-out lyrics to super catchy and happy melodic songs. I don't think that's too unusual though, because when done right, it's hardly noticeable. These guys seem like they'd be a lot of fun to see live, but unfortunately, like a lot of California punk outfits these days, they don't tour much.

All in all, "New Animals" is just as powerful as any other album they've put out so far, but with more feeling. For a band that's been around this long, it's really amazing that they can still put out fresh new materials without bridging too far from what they originally were.

If this one doesn't put a smile on your face, I think there's something wrong with you.

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