siLLy puPPy
Born Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier in 1979 and better known by his stage name ANDREW W.K., this multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer debuted at the turn of the millennium with a strange combination of hard rock, punk, metal and power pop music inspired by the late 70s and early 80s. Born in the Bay Area university town of Standford, CA and then being raised in Michigan, these days W.K. finds himself in the more cosmopolitan setting of New York City.
After singing with a number of bands throughout the 90s, W.K. debuted with the EP titled “Girls Own Juice” before catching the world by storm with his brash party album debut I GET WET which produced two singles: “Party Hard” and “She Is Beautiful.” Inspired more by the production techniques of Phil Spector than any musical act in particular, this is definitely one of those albums that relies heavily on sound layers, overdubbing, digital editing and mixing manipulation from every conceivable angle. In fact if you look at the credits there are only six musicians in the main band and over a dozen engineers, producers and sound effect professionals.
What we have here is unapologetic party music with a shameless celebration of mindless hedonism and the epitome of embracing all things shallow. This is the type of inoffensive anthem music that corporations love therefore W.K. caught the attention of hotwire.com, Coors, Expedia and Target for musical accompaniments in advertising spots. Likewise the music rags went all gaga for ANDREW W.K. with his edgy sounding yet totally sterile style of pop meets hard rock / punk / metal. Despite all the hype the album only peaked at #84 on the Billboard albums chart but did reach silver status in the UK.
I GET WET is basically a collection of super catchy pop hooks that are produced to death. The music sounds something like The Cars early albums which featured a mix of rockabilly, power pop, 70s pop punk and 80s new wave only set to raucous heavy guitar power chords and cheesy faux drumming patterns. Add to that some abrasive vocals shouted from under the Phil Spector wall of sound production excesses. With tracks like “Party Til You Puke” it’s obvious that this album was targeted towards college students and would make the perfect soundtrack for a spring break in Daytona Beach. The album is incessant and keeps up one high energy track after another.
For what it is, it’s not bad. It’s well produced party anthem rock with a heavier than usual guitar presence however its’ also not a type of music that i’m very interested in listening to either. I’ve never been into the party scene and the entire thing reeks of shallowness that is the opposite of what i seek in music. However it has it’s place and ANDREW W.K. found a unique niche that many would call a sell out but someone is always going to fill those roles. Certainly no musical creds can be assigned to this one but if someone is looking for cute punchy party songs then this is perhaps the best thing since KISS’ 70s hit “Rock And Roll All Nite.” I’m positive i’ll never revisit this but i do love checking out all the sounds that the Bay Area has produced over the decades! This one certainly adds a new nuance to the whole thing :D