REEL BIG FISH
Why Do They Rock So Hard? (Mojo)
Rating:4 out of 7
By Neal Weiss

   With the insanely catchy hit "Sell Out" last year, Orange County's Reel Big Fish moved up the food chain of the ska-core scene. But their mutation of ska-core, unlike what the hyphenated term might imply, was neither very soulful nor reckless; instead it was much more of a hard-rock with ska rhythms and the requisite horn punches. The appropriately named Why Do They Rock So Hard? furthers the point with guitar parts so big and noodle-y that the band often comes across as a mock-Sunset Strip hair band in hipster, skate-rat duds. Nothing if not totally fun, Why Do They is a current-day frat-rock throwdown with plenty foot-happiness, boyish humor ("I've got a brand new girlfriend, she is so lovely lovely, I've got a new ex-girlfriend, she is so fat and ugly"), and a predilection for the f-word. Just don't expect much staying power here, for Why Do They soon grows tiresome, as nights spent blearily wrapped around the keg eventually do.