Good Clean Fun

I can't think of one person out there that doesn't like to laugh. However, not everyone likes to laugh at the same things. Some people think Adam Sandler is funny; I don't. Some people think Robin Williams is a hoot; I don't. Hell, some people think American's Funniest Home Videos was the greatest show in television history; I... well, who doesn't laugh like a hyena when a man gets hit in the nuts by a wiffle bat? I'm not inhuman.

I used to think Good Clean Fun was a humorous band. Classic songs like, "WWZD," "Coll-edge," "Loserdotcom," etc… were always good for anything from a slight chuckle to an all-out guffaw. So when I heard that Good Clean Fun was back in the game and "Saving the Scene from the Forces of Evil" I was stoked. I exercised my jaw muscles in anticipation of the LOLERCAUST that was going to be unleashed when I slid Between Christian Rock and a Hard Place into my CD player.

I think I laughed out loud maybe three times during the whole album. The first came with the line, "He finally heard old Fugazi, he said, 'this sounds like Bear vs. Shark' (oh no!)" during "A Little Bit Emo, A Little Bit Hardcore." Then a laugh sputtered from my lips during the skit, "It's Fun to be a Vampire." Finally, I chuckled a bit with the Chris Carraba impersonation on "The Myspace Song." Everything else on this album was either sort of amusing or just downright painful to witness. I, for one, don't laugh at the sight of multiple car accidents and train wrecks.

Good Clean Fun used to be the purveyors of the HAHA with its insightful wisecracks about hardcore, straight-edge veganism, and other scene worthy topics. However, on Between Christian Rock and a Hard Place Good Clean Fun tackles Myspace, emo kids, and reality television. In the latter they even include the sing along chant of "I want my MTV!" Seriously, I would expect this coming from a Junior High Blink 182 cover band and not the comedic geniuses that once gave us "Vegan Revolution Draft Dodger".

If the humor wasn't limp enough, the music is downright flaccid. I just listened to this album about 20 minutes ago and I can't remember a single note from it. What happened to the quirk catchy fast hardcore songs of Good Clean Fun's days of glory? I actually went and restarted the CD for the third time tonight and all I hear now is Good Clean Fun going through the motions of a hardcore band. There's a fast part placed here and a mid-tempo part played here. The songs are so predictable it's almost painful to listen to. It's like watching your favorite stand up comedian telling blonde jokes at a Barbie Convention.

Maybe I just don't get it. Maybe my humor has become more sophisticated in the four years it took Good Clean Fun to write this album. Maybe I've grown even more bitter and even more jaded to where I can't find the humor in everyday things like emo kids on Myspace and American Idol. Or maybe Good Clean Fun rented "Waterboy" and "Popeye" way too many times. Whatever it is, the joke is over, Good Clean Fun.

2.5 / 10 — Jason