Danger Bob - "Girls of the Big 12"
Mayday Records

Danger Bob has proven itself to be much more than a novel, crazy pop band. With this release, they have grown as both as musicians and songwriters. The songs on Girls of the Big 12 still all have that Danger Bob feel, but there’s some serious musical risks that were taken on this release... and, boy, do they ever pay off.

What do we have here? Lessee...

A) Piss ‘em off songs: for example, "Church ‘Em, Danno," which is sure to offend far more people than the whole For Unlawful Christmas Knowledge disc did. With a refrain of "The crucifixion of a man named J. doesn’t affect me in any way" it's not the most Christian-friendly song.

B) Pop culture references out the wazoo - "Biltmore" is all about Alison from Road Rules on MTV, and "Anne-Mette’s Anorak" even references Danger Bob’s own "World Class Teeth" from MegaVega$. (You know you're a legendary act when you can get away with making references to your own songs...) "Ducky’s Theme" is all about the film Pretty in Pink, and the relationship between Jon Cryer and Molly Ringwald.

C) Emo- yep, emo. "Only In Your Mind" is a fuzzy, emotional number. Quiet and calm - kinda freaky, especially when you consider "Ducky’s Theme" is pretty contemplative in itself.

D) A love song. Waitaminnit... Danger Bob? Love songs? This *so* does not fit here. However... it’s one of the best tracks on Girls of the Big 12. It’s quite a touching song, and very sweet.

So, yes, there’s a big variety on this CD. And all of the songs are dangerously catchy. Trust me, one listen to this disc and I caught myself singing snippets from various songs for days. I could not stop humming, singing, or mumbling through the parts I couldn’t quite remember every time it played.

Expect to park Girls of the Big 12 in your player for quite some time. It is a very, very, very enjoyable CD, and spans the breadth of the rock genres as it goes. And, even if you don’t feel that it’s a necessity to own (and it *is*, trust me), there is the added bonus that three of the songs on the CD are re-recordings of songs from the now very rare Joshua Tree cassette - "Smileyberg," a very fuzzy white-noise version of "Church ‘Em, Danno," and the hilarious anti-homophobe song, "Ride My Beam."

So, go get the damn thing. What are you waiting for? It’s in stores now, it’s the best local release since the last Fakebook album and it’ll make you wanna see Danger Bob even more. Take it from me, once you hear this album, you’ll be smacking yourself in amazement. Your jaw will hit the floor. You’ll shi... well, you get the picture.