The 80's weren't really as bad as those VH1 specials make it out to be. Sure the fashion of those years was pretty atrocious, but try going to a concert today without laughing. It's hard, trust me. Throughout the decade there was quality music being made on all fronts - pop, hardcore, new-wave, hip hop, and punk. There were some great bands back then, some atop their respectable genres. But on the flipside, there were some pretty atrocious bands that helped create the stereotype - "80's music sucks." Case in point - Oingo Boingo.
Outside of Oingo Boingo reviving their careers and deciding to write a brand new record I can only think of one thing as equally horrifying ' a tribute album to the semi-one-hit wonders. Low and behold what arrived in my mailbox, none other than just that: Dead Band's Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo. Nothing is worse than a handful of pop punk, screamo, and ska bands covering a band whose existence shouldn't be acknowledged.
For the most part the renditions found on this album remain true to the originals, or so I can conclude to the best of my knowledge, since I tried to avoid as much interaction with the sounds of Oingo Boingo in the first place. RX Bandits rendition of "Grey Matter" and Over It's version of "Stay" both contain small dashes of the bands' pop-punk flavoring as they rework those early new-wave hits. And considering new-wave and pop-punk share several similarities, these songs could actually fit into the bands' repertoires.
On the other hand we have Finch, one of the bigger names on the tribute alongside Reel Big Fish, The Aquabats, and Plain White T's. Their cover of "When the Lights Go Out" doesn't even sound like a song. It sounds like it was recorded with a Fischer Price tape deck; it is absolute garbage and it's obvious the only reason it is on here is to move units. My condolences go out to all Finch fans that actually got suckered into buying this album.
The only redeeming quality of this record is Hello Goodbye's cover of "Weird Science" because it reminded me of the movie, which is excellent. Seriously, you can't top a film where two dorks put bras on their head, do some computer hacking, and create a female played by the drop-dead gorgeous Kelly LeBrock.
In summation, this tribute album is a travesty. I could do without it entirely, in fact if I had the time I would round up every copy that was pressed and have them melted down into something more useful like Tupperware. I cannot fathom how or even why this album even came about. What the hell is wrong with people?!
