Video: The Aquabats, ‘Karate Body!’

Roy Jurgens on August 24th, 2020

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Yes, indeed, it is the end of the world as we know it, and pretty much none of us are feeling fine. In a time of pandemic, plandemic, isolated, obfuscated, benumbed, damn dumb, shambolic and alcoholic, the Aquabats came to the rescue on Friday with their new album “Kooky Spooky…in Stereo!”

Seriousness, go stand in a corner for a while.

Espousing a DIY ethic, the new album was made possible by a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign ($600,000 on Kickstarter, $300,000-plus on other platforms, enabling the band to make two albums and produce 13 web episodes of their kids’ TV show, ‘The Aquabats! Super Show!’).

“The thing that really sticks with us about ‘Kooky Spooky’ is that it was made in big part because of our fans. They asked for it, they even helped fund it, and that fact brought a special sort of feeling to this album as we were working on it. We want to make the kids proud,” said lead singer Christian Jacobs (aka The MC Bat Commander).

Dangerously clad in asset-revealing skintight pullovers in the most periwinkle of blue, these Orange County nutters have been pounding the live circuit since 1994, which eventually led to them starring in their own Emmy-winning live-action musical action-comedy television series “The Aquabats! Super Show!,” which was featured on the now-defunct Hub Network from 2012 to ’14.

The latest single, “Dangerous Leon!” stumbles along like a Devo tune that got drunk on Oingo Boingo. We’ve all been living “Pajamazon!” for the past five-plus months, and we dare you to not do the robot to “Karate Body!” Weirdo anthems “Skeleton Inside!” and “No One Wants to Party!” also tread similarly silly ground. In mixing campy super-heroism with new wave, pop-punk and ska, the lads have made a fine living from not taking themselves too seriously.

“Kooky Spooky…in Stereo!” is the Aquabats’ sixth studio album, and their first since 2011’s “High Five Soup!”

||| Stream: “Dangerous Leon!”