Cheer Up! (Reel Big Fish album)

Music and lyrics

It is a slight departure from the band's other releases, veering toward more of a rock sound as opposed to ska, especially on the first five tracks, where nary a syncopated drum beat or upstroke on the guitar is heard. Nevertheless, the album is a continuation of the band's longstanding tradition of putting self-loathing lyrics to upbeat music. The album also shows Reel Big Fish expanding their musical styles past the pop-rock sound, as it contains an a cappella cover of Frank Sinatra's classic "New York, New York" as well as a cover of Sublime's "Boss DJ". Additionally, the last track, "Drunk Again," as well as the international bonus track "Average Man," is actually sung by Reel Big Fish trumpeter-guitarist-pianist-vocalist Scott Klopfenstein, with a style differing from the traditional Reel Big Fish sound, and the former song later being performed by Klopfenstein's side project The Littlest Man Band. The band later stated, perhaps jokingly, that the song was accidentally put on the album and was intended to have been on a Littlest Man Band album instead. The CD cover art of the evil clown for this album was drawn by Aaron Barrett's father.

Release

Between late June and mid-August, the group went on the 2002 edition of Warped Tour. The hornless single, "Where Have You Been?", was a moderate success in 2002, helping album sales.

Track listing

All songs written and arranged by Reel Big Fish (A. Barrett, C. de la Garza, S. Klopfenstein, D. Regan, and M. Wong) except as noted.

Band

Additional musicians

Production

Recording locations