Why I Love... E for Everyone!
Welcome to another edition of the Why I Love column, where I, Eric Ratcliffe, pick something I've read, played, listened to or watched to discuss with you fair readers. This week we talk about the coolest comic book rock band on the planet known as the Kirby Krackle with their sophomore album E for Everyone!
Slightly different than the first album, the new CD has a total of 11 tracks and, depending on if you've been a long term fan of the band, one of those tracks should be very familiar. Oh, and sadly no secret track.
The second album by any band is usually a tough sell, whether it's the change of the overall sound of the band or if the roster has changed up it's tough to satisfy the fanbase. I think the Kirby Krackle not only did that but they did it in folds.
The 11 track CD has something for everyone from Green Lantern fans to video game players and even fans of the Avengers. We go through a trek of all nerdom and Jim and Kyle take absolutely no prisoners.
Vault 101 - [This] is one of my favorite tracks and should be the new theme song to the game Fallout 3 (sort of like Jonathan Coulton has Still Alive at the end of Portal). It is the story of your character through the game and makes me smile on each new listen. From the shout out to Megaton to attacking raiders and finding bottlecaps. A great start to the album.
On and on - A song about Wolverine and pretty much how the poor bastard is everywhere. It's a fun little track that gives a very interesting perspective on the character. It has a strong chorus and the guitar riffs pull you in. Plus any song that mentions the wrecking crew cannot be bad.
Secret Identity - Now, I'd have to ask Jim and Kyle about this but I think it's possible that the track is inspired by the movie Unbreakable. At least it feels that way to me. But Willis never had a secret identity in the movie. It's a strong track though that to me is slightly reminiscent of Villain Song from the first album.
Roll Over - My second favorite track on the album where I actually was caught off guard when I heard GMK the Great (who by the way I'd never heard of before but will be looking into now). It riffs off of a very well known song that is obviously in public domain if the guys can parody it like this. It's also a great nerd album that has everything from the Thundercats to the Power Puff Girls and Dazzler.
Henchman - The other track on the album that feels like a successor to Villain Song. It's amusing as well as you always are curious about things from the henchman's point of view.
Ring Capacity - I am actually surprised that this is on the album. It was exclusive months back to everyone on the mailing list and it seems that it snuck its way on the album and was a song that found its way on repeat on my iTunes for a few days. It's all about Green Lanterns and the guys even sneak the oath in. Easily one of the strongest tracks on the album.
Can I Watch You - Look! Someone wrote a song about Uatu [the Watcher] and the name of the song sounds dirty! Seriously though, it's slightly a ballad and slightly sad because of how lonely Uatu must be.
Take it From Me - A song about Megaman, which I didn't get at first...I can be dense. It makes me smile as a gamer because I remember spending hours on the Super Nintendo Megaman game and how frustrating it was. Brings back some good memories and definitely another great track.
Great Lakes Avengers - Yep everyone's favorite group of losers get a song on the album and it's one of my favorites. At first I thought the song was being sung from Deadpool's perspective, which I still can sort of see except for some of the lyrics. But any song where you can call Batman a douche is an instant winner to me.
Dusty Cartridges and Long Boxes - Another song that is slightly a ballad. The lyrics make me laugh, though, especially the delivery of some of them.
Going Home - The last song on the album and a great end to the CD (though I would have liked another secret track). It's all about going to cons and definitely rightly titled as I know for many of us going to conventions can feel like going home as we truly feel comfortable and fit in.
As with last album, we have some really great Jim Mahfood artwork to look at again and some fun pictures of Jim and Kyle that made me laugh. (That Ukulele looks like it hurt) all in all, this is another great nerdy album that I cannot recommend more. There is some great stuff to discover on this CD and anybody that enjoys good music should pick it up. I'd even say that it is stronger than the first album. The Kirby Krackle has another hit on their hands.
Join us next time as we explore something else that has got my attention lately. We'll see you then!
Eric Ratcliffe is a young writer/pop culture journalist/interviewer currently working on pitching a project named the Hunter chronicles. When not reading his weekly stack Eric can be found watching DVDs, playing on his 360 (gamertag: Zack Hunter) or just surfing online trying to find a scoop or two. Brand new to the Comic Related family, Eric is a fun new voice. Eric shops at TJ's Collectibles. Visit them on the web at www.tjcollect.com!
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