Monkey Kong - A > Reviews > It's just a name, they got it wrong

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Old Folks,Summer On The Underground, I Love Lake Tahoe
Disadvantages:	Not enough people own this CD

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

It really really annoys me when I see this album listed as A vs Donkey Kong. Don't try and be clever, you NES loving fools.

The version of the album I am going to review is the US release - slightly different track order, 3 extras and just called Monkey Kong. But never mind, I'm sure you'll cope and your brains won't explode.

I love A, and this album is where it all started. It's been quoted at me in text messages, it's been played before gigs (we were ecstatic at deciphering Monkey Kong, and so happy that we started the Lake Tahoe chorus which made us a friend when he joined in) and it was the first A album I borrowed from my friends and bought. It will always have a special place in my CD collection. I would say Monkey Kong is the very essence of A. Fun-loving, great choruses and silly bits in between verses. It's got it all.
Anyway, on to the songs.

For Starters - A song with bleepy bits and about how Jason loves being in A. The choruses are full of rocking guitars that characterise most of Monkey Kong and to an extent a lot of A’s music. . There’s some bitterness about the overlooking of A in the music press ("They hate me at NME") although that has changed now, with A being featured not long ago in the NME (but with three of the band members named wrongly, tisk tisk). Although, this being A, the bitterness doesn’t sound bitter at all, because they don’t really mean it. A are in it for the fun and the music.

Monkey Kong - The title track (obviously. Am I being too patronising?). A huge favourite live. Go to any A gig and watch the fans attempt to headbang, shout along to the sampled counting lesson bit and do the numbers with their fingers at the same time. I’ve tried many a time and last time gave up on the headbanging (mainly to save my head from the barrier in front of me) in the hope of catching JP’s eye and have him come down to us. But he didn’t. Bah. I did get a wink from Dan though, so the hour and a half of crushing wasn’t entirely wasted. More of the enthusiastic guitars that just tell your legs to get up and jump around and possibly my favourite guitar bit ever in the world in the chorus under “you’re the captain of the team” etc

A - More JP being a bit angry at people (see Foghorn from HAAB). A is not as frenetic as the previous two, but it still has a big chorus. This song has (I’m pretty sure) JP and Giles singing most of the vocals but makes more use of it than most do, as you can hear the harmonies, which shows A are more versatile than you’d think. Great tunes and vocals? Whoever heard of such a thing! (Rhetorical question, don’t bombard me with references. I probably don’t care.)

Old Folks - Possibly the best song in the world ever. Once dedicated to Kirsty MacColl, just after she died. (“This one’s for you Kirsty, this is what you’ll never be”). Great mixture of JP’s lead and Dan and Giles’s backing vox. I think this song has had comparisons to the Beach Boys (that would be all the “ooohh”-ing in the chorus). The great thing about A songs is that they often have a bit where everything stops and you get to shout along with the whole band “THE OLD FOLKS! ARE LOSERS! THEY CAN’T WORK! COMPUTERS!” and it makes you feel like a god (phrase copyright Alawston)

Hopper Jonnus Fang - There’s some debate over the spelling of this title, mainly caused by the two quite different versions on the outside and inside of the album. Here we have Chilled A, you might even go as far as saying Lounge A. More double vocals and some slightly cheesy synthy sounding stuff in the background. This song wanders along quite happily, with the little samply bits A love so much and the slightly random lyrics which include robots, ambitions for the future and general ruminatings on life. And we mustn’t forget the answerphone message from the Perry Grandma in the middle. A genuine Old Folk. Hurrah!

Summer On The Underground - A laid back song, this is a slight soundalike for Going Down on HiFi Serious but I’ll stop there for fear of a shout of “deviation!”. Another song in praise of Jason’s favourite season - summer. Mine too. It perfectly describes a hot day in the middle of London (for me anyway, a resident of 19 years). A have faced accusations of Americanisation, especially with their third album. To those people I say listen to this song and Shut Yer Face. There are some wonderful guitar solos here, and A make great use of Giles’s skillz on the keyboards. The “yeah yeah yeah” bits make it fun to sing along to as well.

Warning - A 1:41 blast of bouncy Rock. JP’s voice at it’s strained-sounding kooky best. If you listen closely you can hear the legendary Perry voice saying something at the end.

If It Ain’t Broke, Fix It Anyway - A’s Tips on Music: How to do a perfect example of the quiet/loud song. Another massive favourite live, due to the singalong-friendly chorus. Simple (“It’s not over til it’s over anyway”) yet damn effective. I can remember losing the floor during this song at Wembley Arena, scary yet elating. Here we have more of the driving guitar from M.A.C. that could cause an earthquake if A did a gig in China.

Here We Go Again (I <heart> Lake Tahoe) - More generally known as I Love Lake Tahoe. This song is the reason people go to see A and possibly the reason they like A in the first place. It has everything: a NaaNaa Naa chorus, a blinding guitar/synth bit in the middle to headbang to, silly lyrics about the boys having fun, and of course, the bit in the middle where it goes silent. Doesn’t sound much, does it. But live ... they do so much with it! They’ve buggered off stage for a drink, they’ve wandered round chatting to people, they’ve started back into it with a ringtone from a phone held by a fan and by doing the riff from Van Halen’s Jump (a personal favourite of mine, stopped recently probably due to copyright issues) and they’ve started it using a girl from the audience who didn’t know the words or the tune. Not hard really, “Na na na, nanana na na na, nanana na na, here we go again.” But it’s so good! Play it loud and close your eyes and rock like you’ve never done before. And watch out for the ending live. I’m sure it was half an hour long last time.

Don’t Be Punks - Resident Satanist Dan P Carter’s contribution - less than a minute long (thankfully. Three minutes of that would kill most people). It shows his music taste, scary screamy vocals over dirty guitar sounds with (yet more) of the beloved sampled voices.

Down On The Floor - An A album track, meaning it has the singable chorus, harmonies, a great solo and lyrics about general stuffage. This one has more of the weird computerised voices to help JP out. Not as outstanding as the rest, but as nothing A have ever done is less than great, it’s great. Best bit is the “I’m always up on time” bit repeated over and over at the end.

Jason’s Addiction - Odd, relaxed, acoustic-ish A with the blips in the background and altered vocals. “Only happy when we’re singing”. This builds from odd, almost jazz, towards an epic chorus. Hear Yin go mad on his drumkit. Go boy, go!

Miles Away - Fun synth-filled song about being wrong. Nice middle eight with some ooohs. Highly singable. “Not messing about, got a mile of self doubt”. Classic.

Getting Around - More about the life of a band and a bit of a dig at certain types they met in the industry. “You’re big with the ladies so they don’t think you’re gay ... Do we owe it all to you?”. The end turns out to be nice and big after a decoy.

Bonus Tracks (US version only)
She Said - Also a B-side on Old Folks, this is a great track and if A ever did a B-sides album it would be as strong as any of their previous. This song could have come from any of A’s albums over a 5 year period. The most unexpected bit is a trumpet solo which rocks. You can just see JP leaning forward in his trademark back-saving stage pose, screaming into his mike and headbanging in between.

One Day - An unremarkable song. Not as good as the rest of the album, but looking back, it’s a hard act to follow.

If It Ain’t Broke (Live Version) - Does exactly what it says on the tin. It was recorded in Munich in February 2000.

The artwork is damn cool as well. Their Monkey Kong logo, resplendent everywhere including the CD in black and red, and the Japanese writing made for a very cool set of covers for singles from the album and merchandise too. There’s almost nothing I want more in the world than a Monkey Kong t-shirt of some kind. Preferably one I could wear outside, as my first A t-shirt (highly cool, F on the right sleeve, UCKING on the chest, A on the left sleeve) is about 4 sizes too big and can only be worn in bed and to shock my parents or flatmates.

If that isn’t enough detail: THIS ALBUM IS GOOD. BUY IT. YOU’LL BE HAPPY UNLESS YOU HATE “ROCK” MUSIC. MOST OF THE SONGS ARE GOOD. LOTS OF PEOPLE AGREE WITH ME ON THIS.