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May 2017




  

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
'Rake It In: The Greatest Hits'
CD Review By: James Carlson


California's punk rock supergroup and goof-off cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes has released a best of album titled 'Rake It In: The Greatest Hits.' If you have followed The Gimmes since they began doing their thing in the mid-'90s, you will probably be familiar with most, if not all of the songs on this album, as they span the entire career of the band to date, including songs from 'Are A Drag' (1999), 'Blow in the Wind' (2001), 'Take A Break' (2003), 'Love Their Country' (2006), 'Have Another Ball' (2008), 'Are We Not Men? We Are Diva!' (2014), etc.

On ‘Rake It In,’ Me First and the Gimme Gimmes punkify a handful of different genres, including folk, R&B, pop, country, rock, and show tunes. For example, among the selected seventeen tracks are: "The Times They Are A-Changing" (Bob Dylan), "City of New Orleans" (Steve Goodman), "All My Loving" (The Beatles), "Jolene" (Dolly Parton), "Uptown Girl" (Billy Joel), "Country Roads" (John Denver), "Lady" (Lionel Richie), and "I Believe I Can Fly" (R. Kelly).

Sometimes it is nice to take a little break from the more social and political-minded punk to spend some time at the decidedly more fun and silly end of the punk music spectrum, where the main focus is on having a good time. That is exactly where Me First and the Gimme Gimmes exist on the spectrum, placed between musical hijinks and tomfoolery, but with plenty of talent to pull it off and pull it off well.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes' members include Fat Mike (NOFX) on bass and backing vocals, Joey Cape (Lagwagon, Bad Astronaut) on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters, No Use for A Name) on lead guitar and backing vocals, Dave Raun (Lagwagon) on drums, and Spike Slawson (Swingin' Utters, The Re-Volts, Uke-Hunt) on lead vocals.

'Rake It In: The Greatest Hits' by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes was released on April 7, 2017 on Fat Wreck Chords. It is available in CD, vinyl and digital formats.











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