Alien Ant Farm

WHAT YOU KNOW THEM FOR: Being white and nerdy.





BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE ALBUM?

My band once played a show with this band, let’s call them Foolstar because that was their name. I’m not sure what I did to piss them off initially (I was quite good at that back then), and me and the singer got into a pissing contest. I delivered the death blow when they went into their cover of Nirvana’s “Aneurysm.” I yelled, “That’s the best song you’ve written!”

The point of that story is that I like telling stories about myself.

It must sting when not only are you a one-hit wonder, but that sole hit is a cover. You’re not good enough to write even one song people like. You were just good enough to learn how to play a song people like. Enter Alien Ant Farm. They managed to take the one-hit cover to a new level. They appeared on an episode of MTV Cribs, and they simply recreated an Alice In Chains skit from Headbanger’s Ball.

Yes, even their non-musical performances are covers.

There were two types of rock bands that emerged in the early 2000s: those with a DJ, and those without. Alien Ant Farm falls into the latter camp. Other than their extremely dorky look (seriously, these guys make Rivers Cuomo look like Tupac), they do nothing to separate themselves from their peers. They sound like Papa Roach (or do Papa Roach sound like them?) on their faster tracks and sound like Incubus on their slower tracks. Some faux hardcore on “Wish.”

There’s nothing inherently bad about this album. They’re good enough at what they do that I’m semi-curious to check out their later stuff to see if they’ve grown any. But I probably won’t.


FINAL VERDICT: At least they don’t touch little boys