Chimpunks

The Chimpunks Jump the Shark (2004)
Little Shunted Kid

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Anchors
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on December 18th 2005

The Chimpunks Jump the Shark by you guessed it, the Chimpunks, may very well be the most odd thing that I’ve ever had to review. So, what do you get when you take classic punk tracks from mid-`90s Fat and Epitaph bands, make them acoustic, and sung by the Chipmunks? Oddly enough, you get a really enjoyable 26 songs worth of music.

All the classics are represented, and some newer bands as well. Face to Face, Pulley, Descendents, Bad Religion, NOFX, Strike Anywhere, Alkaline Trio, Green Day, they’re all covered on this compilation/cover album of sorts. In some cases, I honestly even like these acoustic, Chipmunk-sung versions better than the originals as they appeared on their respective albums. A lot of people are bound to be turned off by the fact that these songs are sung by the Chipmunks, or at least men who sound identical to the Chipmunks, and those voices can become grating after a while. On the same token, I think a lot of people will be impressed by those three-part harmonies, and the little extra boost they give to some of the tracks.

I won’t touch on every track, but hit some of the real highlights, and they start early with a rendition of the Offspring’s “All I Want.” This is one of those such instances where I like the acoustic version better than the original, it just seems to add that extra intangible something. The exact same inflections used by Dexter Holland are replicated on the album, only, by the voices of three chipmunks. The Lawrence Arms’ “Your Gravest Words” is one of the albums shining moments, really capturing a good amount of emotion, maybe more so than was even originally present. They really don’t go wrong with a single track on the entire album, and not all of them are great, or even good, but they’re all decent enough to warrant a listen from not only casual fans of the bands being covered, but just those who enjoy some good acoustic tunes.

While they don’t go musically wrong anywhere on the album, the one point that downplays, or increases the value of the album, depending on perspective, is the amount of tracks. Twenty-six songs is a lot of music, and it adds up. About seventy minutes, to be exact. The album keeps a good flow, but especially because of how similar these songs become to their now acoustic nature, it gets difficult to really sit down and listen to all twenty-six tracks. Regardless, if you want to skip around, you’ll no doubt find some real gems. Even covering the holiest of holy, Bad Religion, they’re able to make “Generator”'s alternate version sound pretty damn solid. It’s not going to be touching the original in any sense of the word, but they’ve done a fine job with their rendition. For all you Alkaline Trio fans, there’s a medley of their songs including “Queen Of Pain,” and a few less well known tunes as well. Strike Anywhere’s “Infared” takes on an entirely different life, and as with Bad Religion, it can’t touch the original, but kudos to the Chimpunks for taking the song seriously, and doing a good job of covering.

This is not something to be taken at all seriously, and you should already know whether or not you’ll like this. If you find the voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore to be endearing, you’ll get a kick on their takes of punk rock standbys; if not, you’ll want to leave this one on the shelf.

Login to rate this album

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (December 29, 2005)

the myspace site is down... is there anywhere else to hear the songs?

lushj (December 22, 2005)

Eh. It's just two guys and a pitchshifter. Funny idea though. Wish they'd picked more good songs and less songs we'll look back and say "wait, I vaguely remember that band" about in 10 years.

Anonymous (December 22, 2005)

sounds like the dudes from south park...

Anonymous (December 20, 2005)

Swing Life Away rocks. (Literally. Lol.)

the_other_scott (December 19, 2005)

this somehow makes me nostalgac (sp?), cringe, and laugh at the same time

Anonymous (December 19, 2005)

Funny as it may sound, the "Alkaline Quartet Medley" reminded me just how much I love the Trio. Couldn't stop smiling through the whole listen. And kudos for using "Jaked On Green Beers."

Anonymous (December 19, 2005)

The Chimpunks rock!
Contrary to viscious rumours that he is still alive.... Simon is dead. He refused to stop humping a walnut shaped like a vagina and fell out of the tree into a kennal containing 2 angry pit bulls. The chimpunks still manage though trading off the third harmony on the trusty eight-track.
Clarification:
1. 2 guys
2. A pitch shifter (not helium)
3. Acoustic Guitars
and 4. AN ORIGINAL IDEA SHAPED BY THE MINDS OF GENIUSES.

cherrycolarain (December 19, 2005)

1)Helium
2)Acoustic Guitar
3)Punk rock records of all sorts
4)A lot of time (or maybe not that much for the bored)

And Voila! you get this!

This may have started as a bad comment, but this is just too funny that it gets a ten.

rkl (December 18, 2005)

unfortunately, 3 years of working in the mall at xmas time have taught me alvins voice. this doesnt relaly sound like the chimpunks. it sounds almost like a little kid , but im suspecting helium.
its a good idea, though.

etwiels88 (December 18, 2005)

I have like 5 Alvin and the Chipmunks vinyl records

Anonymous (December 18, 2005)

Thanks, y'all. All the songs are available free on the website. We also have a Cryspace page: http://www.myspace.com/thechimpunks/

Love,
The Chimpunks

skaboom (December 18, 2005)

More bands need to do their cover art in MSPaint.

gregs (December 18, 2005)

Pretty amusing. I'd like it a lot better if it really sounded like The Chipmunks. Not just any old sped up voice will do it for us old farts who grew up with 'em.

theundergroundscene (December 18, 2005)

the offspring's "all i want" is such a great punk rock song

shit, that whole album is really good

maverick (December 18, 2005)

I also have the original Chipmunk Punk record, and it's worth getting for the cover art alone. The song selection is pretty tame, however (The Cars? Tom Petty's "Refugee?").

I somehow ended up with a copy of this CD, as well, and it's not nearly as funny or entertaining as I hoped it would be.

-Scott

Anonymous (December 18, 2005)

I was quite fond of Recommended for fans of: Bad Religion, or, if you're Greg Graffin, Maleficent Theological Apparatus.

AlmostPunkEnough (December 18, 2005)

hahaha, i know what to expect from each one, yet when they start i still laugh my ass off. this is great.

the Strike Anywhere song is amazng, and i'd love to hear an acoustic version with serious vocals, so much potential there. the Larry Arms, Pulley, even the LTJ and Dance Hall Crasher songs are all great, 'Sorrow' too. they even do a Bracket song, that alone makes anything worthwhile.

this easily gets a 10 for what it is.

also: "Recommended for fans of: No Use for a Name, that a cappella crap that East Coast college students go totally apeshit about." that's funny as hell.

colin (December 18, 2005)

this is fucking amazing

lol_omg_wtf_nambla (December 18, 2005)

This is great! This is the greatest set of punk rock inside jokes I've ever encountered. Also, putting "Alkaline Trio (sic)" was a stroke of genius. I'm easily amused.

Anonymous (December 18, 2005)

...you could make the case that Alvin and the Chipmunks are more punk than....say....the Vandals. Speaking of which, I had a copy of the original "Chipmunk Punk" record where the actual chipmunks did proto-punk and new wave covers. I got it out of the free bin at the record store and I think I melted it in the oven to make a bowl.

-Ken

PS: Do not try melting records in the oven or microwave, that shit will stink up your apartment for weeks.