Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Love Their Country

Genre punk rock Publisher Fat Wreck Chords External Links Official Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Official Fat Wreck Chords Website

Combining punk and country music is a strange amalgamation, even for a cover band like Me First and The Gimme Gimmes. What makes this combination even stranger is the fact that it actually works and Love Their Country might actually help some country-haters determine what their difficulty with the genre is. For at least some listeners, The Gimme Gimmes' latest album will show that it isn't necessarily country song-writing that is the problem, but the way the songs are performed.

The album begins deceivingly with "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)," on which The Gimme Gimmes start the song with a typical country sound. The slide guitars are there as well as the twangy delivery and the slower pace. Listeners need to give the album a chance and get past the first minute of the song because once listeners hit the 1:20 mark; The Gimme Gimmes switch into "pure" punk-country and don't let up the pace for the rest of the album.

While most of the covers are good and it is highly entertaining to hear country punk, a couple tracks lend themselves particularly well to this kind of treatment. "On The Road Again" is one of those songs that even most country-haters may acknowledge has some good aspects. However, when that song is taken and reworked by The Gimme Gimmes, it's beyond good. The faster pace and frantic punk approach makes this song the kind to turn up loud in the car with all the windows down on a hot summer day. It's fun. It's catchy. It might be country, but there's something indescribably entertaining about the song.

Similarly, "Annie's Song," an old John Denver tune that is admirable in the original version, is even better on Love Their Country. Gone is some of the slightly cheesy sappiness of the original and in its place is just a rocking track that will make listeners want to jump around in sheer exuberance. "Goodbye Earl," a highly entertaining song in its original form and on other covers by artists like The Dixie Chicks, is also even better given The Gimme Gimmies' treatment.

Although most punk fans will probably be a bit skeptical about a punk-country album, Love Their Country is well worth giving a serious shot. The Gimme Gimmes approach not only seems to remove some of the annoying aspects of most country music, but also adds some levity to the whole idea of country music and it is this seriousness that, at least for some listeners, is what makes country so unappealing.