Bloated Kat Records / Waterslide Records, 12 Aug 2022
Never been to Whimsyland? You’ll wanna go after hearing this.
Truth be told, I tend to struggle with real-deal concept albums. I love The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, The Beatles Sgt. Pepper, and Bowie‘s Ziggy Stardust as much as anyone else. But, ya know, not for the concept. I just like the songs. And my attention span doesn’t hold up for trying to keep up with a narrative. Nor is it particularly fond of messy and complex character studies. Same thing goes for Hüsker Dü‘s Zen Arcade and Fucked Up‘s David Comes To Life. Great songs, great albums, ignore the storyline. I guess what I’m getting at is that trying to follow a wacky narrative for an entire album mostly makes my brain hurt, so I tend to ignore the concept. But when an album sticks to a thematic concept rather than chasing a story, well, my attention span can keep up. That might explain my deep love for The Who’s pirate radio-themed concept album Sell Out. The theme is there, but it’s more anecdotal. Simply, I don’t have to keep shit straight over the course of an album to have any chance of knowing what’s going on.
Luckily for me, the new album from Whimsyland feels more like Sell Out than David Comes To Life. Whimsyland is a “concept” album created by Chadd Derkins and with contributions from nearly 50 pop punk musicians including Mikey Erg, Grath Madden, Rocky Rochelle, and Chris Grivet. The theme is pretty simple. Basically, Whimsyland is a fictional theme park and each song on here is about a fictional exhibit at Whimsyland. No real character studies that get messy in my head, no underdeveloped storyline to worry about keeping straight. Instead, it’s pretty much a collection of theme songs for the exhibits. That I can do.
Musically, we’re dealing with bright and poppy punk (I mean, c’mon, this is about a Disney-like theme park with the name “whimsy” in the name). The melodies are absurdly contagious with lots of major-chord feel-good vibes, high energy pace (without falling into a blur), and singalong moments that are maddeningly good. “Old Town Square” could’ve been the theme song for any local waterpark or Chuck E. Cheese-type establishment, with its repeated refrain boosted by persistent backing vocals and a jingle-like melody. Same goes for “Turtle Taproom” and its magnificent keys and “ooh-way-ooh” backing vocals. Others, like “Suwannee Swamp Adventure”, “Volcano Valley Rally”, and “The Bunny’s House” are simply infectious pop punk songs with the kinda hooks that I’d cut off my left ear to make. Then we get the goofy “The Grand Chamber of Exemplary Americans”, with an almost-swinging-country bounce and feel while several guest vocals play the voices of Abe Lincoln, Betsy Ross, George Washington, and Chester Arthur (wait, what?). And the innocent “Oatmeal Cookies – the Ride” might seem silly, but it comes off sorta sweet to me. “Happy Horse Hoedown” has a great vocal hook that oozes fun and the lead guitar going at it with the keys is fantastic. Elsewhere, something musically about “Frankenstein’s Silver Mine” reminds me of The Mopes and “The Keurig Dr Pepper Home of Tomorrow” is a pop song that works in great synths and earworm hooks to spare. It’s hit after hit, and really, these songs make me wish there was a Whimsyland to visit.
So there you have it. Whimsyland is a feel-good album without getting too heavy into the “thinking” stuff, instead simply holding to a fun, sorta nostalgic theme that doesn’t get old and doesn’t mess up. Kudos all around.
Favorite song: “Old Town Square”
Favorite moment: when “Oatmeal Cookies – the Ride” comes on and I realize how completely devoted to the “concept” Derkins is. “The sun never sets on Oatmeal Cookie land”, indeed
Favorite whatever else: the lead vocals from Chelsea Lacatena on “The Bunny’s House” land so right to me
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
