Flipp
“Volume”
(Artemis Records)
I don’t get it. No. I get it; I just can’t appreciate it. Mostly because it doesn’t make the music any better. Gimmick Rock. Costumes and comedy. It doesn’t get any better than that. The press sheet for these fools spends most of its space playing up some lame live antics and the fact that they won MTV’s 1996 “unsigned” band contest. It also says they toured with Everclear last year and it shows. ‘I Still Love Rock and Roll’ sounds just like Everclear’s ‘Santa Monica’, calling into question the fact that Flipp’s latest flop is being released by Everclear front man Art Alexakis’ label, Popularity Recordings. Actually, most of the joke jams on this disc sound similar in tone and structure to Everclear music. There is an element of catchiness to this radio-friendly copy-pop, with popular riffs regurgitated for undiscerning ears. But that’s the only highlight. Top 40 radio might overplay one of these songs. Maybe that song will be in a TV commercial or on a soundtrack for a major movie, like ‘Pretty Young Thing’ or “New Kid’. And maybe they’ll make it back to MTV, on ‘TRL: Behind The Scenes’ or ‘When Bands Dress Up’. Maybe not.
