Nintendo 20-Something Riot

In an increasingly litigious society such as ours, Math the Band would be wise to include some sort of legal disclaimer with their recent release Don't Worry. Not like the ones you see warning you that you may contract lupus or suffer “itchy retina” should you be daring enough to take Lipitor, but something more akin to the phrase “Please Enjoy 'Miller High Life' Responsibly.”

I say this because each of the CD's nine tracks of casio-keyboard-heavy, post punk, dance pop come at you hard and fast and you will get you psyched. Very very psyched. Naturally, after a few of those “Miller High Lives,” mere slam dancing and punching air begin to lose their luster. You may ask yourself “How can I further disregard my personal safety and have a REAL party?” At this point I downright challenge you to resist playing air guitar on the roof of your buddy's van doing 20mph in a mall parking lot while you're listening to the chorus of Don't Worry's opening track “Hang Out/ Hang Ten.”

The music of Don't Worry is... how to put this... sonically inelegant. It's reminiscent of a soundtrack to an 8-bit video game but truthfully, the end result seems perfectly tailored to those of us who can actually sing said soundtracks on cue. Keyboard lines played at a breakneck pace conjure up campy images of a time traveling Ludvig Von Beethoven clad head to toe in neon green and pink and jamming out on a red “keytar.” Raw exuberance is personified in the fuzzy guitar, purposefully cheesy synths and programmed drum tracks all of which provide a lo-fi launchpad for the simultaneously wonderful and ridiculous vocal stylings of Math the Band's two members Kevin Steinhauser and Justine Mainville who literally scream their devil-may-care anthems such as the afore-mentioned “Hang Out/Hang Ten” at the top of their lungs:

“EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

EVERYBODY HAVE FUN TONIGHT

etc..” [Trust me, it makes sense with the music.]

So no, it's not exactly Bob Dylan but at the same time, these songs aren't simply party-hard mantras and ironic non-sequiturs but are often sincere expressions of angst and reckless abandon. Balancing out Sk8er anthems like “It's Gonna Be Awesome” are tunes like “Why Didn't You Get a Haircut” and “Introducing the Magic Eye” which are sung from the perspective of the young artist struggling to find his or her place in an adult world. Fortunately Math the Band seems to take any serious issues in good stride giving us the impression that even if they are unemployed and living in a basement, they are going to make the best of it. At the closing of the recording, the duo hits us with the borrowed chorus, “It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine” and I think they mean it.

So, go ahead and listen to “Tour de Friends” at full volume but before you jump your skateboard off a roof and onto an inflatable alligator floating in an above-ground swimming pool, remember: You've been warned and Math the Band does not condone your wicked stunt and therefore is not legally responsible for the injuries you're almost positively going to sustain. On a happier note: the rest of the album will make fantastic driving music for your buddies as they shuttle your busted face to the nearest emergency room.