Me First And The Gimme Gimmes return with their third album, ‘Blow in The Wind’. This time the motley collection of punk rockers have turned their attention to the most swinging of decades; the sixties. So what we have here is a collection of thirteen cover songs ranging from Bob Dylan to the Beatles.
Due to the nature of the songs covered this album is more accessible than their previous two efforts. Even if you don’t recognise all the song titles on the back of the case, chances are you will know over half the featured covers. (If you don’t recognise any get your parents old vinyl collection out and see what you can discover!) It is not only the accessibility of the songs that has improved though, ‘Blow in the Wind’ also sounds a lot better than both ‘Have A Ball’ and ‘Are A Drag’.
The first track, ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, sees the band launch into half an hour of fast-paced, pop-punk covers of a host of sixties classics, with the usual touches of humour thrown in. The superb cover of ‘Stand By Your man’ features a second verse with the lyrics, “Sometimes its hard to be a Gimme/Giving all your love to just one bandâ€.
Other notable well-worked covers include ‘Sloop John B’ and ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’. In fact, it would be hard not to like any of the songs on this album, because they are all classic tunes, covered in a likeable way. The only criticisms you could lay at the album are the lack of length (only 27 minutes long) and the fact that covers albums are not always to everyone’s taste.
‘Blow in The Wind’ is without a doubt the Gimme Gimmes finest album to date. It will not be to the taste of the whole punk community, but for those who like this sort of thing it is a highly recommended purchase. Let Me First And the Gimme Gimmes into your heart and help make the world a better place! What other albums can you listen to where your Mum says “I liked that song when I was a girlâ€?
Mark