Review: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes “Are We Not Men? We Are Diva!”
Holy shit. Who doesn’t love this band? They threw me for a loop with their last album…. which was entirely in Japanese (good one). Me First and the Gimme Gimmes have proved, once again, that despite being strictly a cover band, they are a talented group of motherfuckers. Spike Slawson is, hands down, one of the best vocalists out there. That is purely my opinion of course but COME ON. Besides being extremely talented and having a great voice, the man is a born entertainer. I mean… have you seen the damn album cover?
Track List:
The album starts off with a very well known song, I Will Survive. Looking at this track list, I’m extremely impressed that Spike is going to tackle these songs sung by some of the most vocally-talented women. From the get-go, one can tell that they put their modern twist on the songs, as per usual. However, once the vocals start, Spike is 100% doing the song justice. I do think this is sort of an overdone song to choose for the record, let alone the first track, but there must have been a reason for it! Maybe they wanted a more recognizable song to start the record off? Either way, they killed it and it made me stupid stoked to hear what was to come!
Straight Up proved to be one of my favorites on the whole album. They managed to make the beginning sound like a NOFX song, but within a few seconds, the familiar tune of the original song shines through. The chorus of this one is genius. Spike fucking nails it! I have a feeling this is the Me First record that this man has been dying to make for years.
I was pretty excited to hear how the band was going to conquer Believe because Cher has a pretty unique voice. I’m a little bummed they went with the auto tune for this one. I’m assuming it’s because the original has it on pretty heavy, but I would have hoped part of the twist they put on this song would be to not use auto tune. It’s not used heavily in the song, but it bugs me in the little bit that it’s in. However, despite that flaw, the song is still pretty killer. I can imagine this is quite the treat when played live.
Beautiful is another one that I was especially interested in hearing. Christina Aguilera isn’t exactly a “classic” diva compared to most other names on the list, but she still has the pipes to be compared to all of them. This wasn’t the most interesting cover on the record, but still extremely enjoyable. Personally, it wasn’t as enjoyable as what was to come next – My Heart Will Go On. This is one that Leo himself would be proud of. I feel as though Spike really sings this one with some pride, and he really does it justice. I mean, let’s be real, Celine Dion is probably a very intimidating voice to cover, and again, they just killed it!
I’m sure Dolly would love to hear the cover of I Will Always Love You, because it sounds like they really had fun with this one. Spike’s vocals show a lot more personality in this one and his speaking part about 90 seconds in is a nice change of pace. It’s a nice transition into Top of the World next. The start of this one sounds more like the Spike you’re used to hearing, and this track just really has a nice flow to it. Fans are just going to fucking love this record, I know it!
Speechless is another track that isn’t from a classic diva, as Lady Gaga is a relatively newer singer compared to most of the other artists featured. Honestly, I’m not sure if I even know what this original track sounds like so I can’t really compare it, but again…. NAILED IT. This record is making me love this band more and more with every song.
This is normally where I would stop breaking it down track-by-track, but Karma Chameleon is, hands down, in my top two favorites on the record. This is a super fun song anyway, no matter how out-done is might seem at times. Spike really puts a nice touch on the vocals and the chorus is just perfect. PERFECT I SAY. Crazy For You starts off with a ukulele, which is no coincidence since Spike has a fairly new project called Uke Hunt that is a strickyl ukulele cover band. Madonna would be stoked on this shit, I mean, come on!! Listen to this! The snaps are a very nice touch, boys. Well done.
Rounding out the record, On The Radio and The Way We Were are two very excellent tracks. On The Radio is a super fun song and not to beat a dead horse, but holy shit, they kill this one too! The chorus is just so good. The Way We Were was probably another intimating one, I mean…. it’s Barbara! I wasn’t too stoked on how this one would sound honestly, because the original is just kind of slow, so it goes without saying that I prefer the Me First version. And I’ll be damned, Spike just kills the vocals on this one. This man can really sing, which he has proved to us album after album. If you haven’t seen this band live yet, you’re missing out!
BUY THIS ALBUM. I cannot stress enough how fun it is and the re-listen factor is very high. I listened to it over and over to do this review but I’m still not sick of it! This just supports my theory that Joey Cape can do no wrong. You can pre-order the album and stream Straight Up now on the Fat Wreck website.
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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