Five Iron Frenzy

All the Hype That Money Can Buy (5 Minute Walk)
by Scott Hefflon

I’m usually as enthusiastic about yet another ska record being added to the stack of come-latelies who missed the goddamn point as I am about getting a root canal, but I kinda like Five Iron Frenzy. They’re from Denver, Colorado, for whatever that’s worth, and they have the good graces to sprinkle in pop rock songwriting and some punk fun amidst, ya know, the horn riffs and that kinda shit Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger and the new slew of hotshots do. But the good stuff here is perfect driving music, and even some of the slower stuff makes sense in a party way, or for kicking back on a deck sipping margaritas or G&Ts or whatever yer fancy is. (I was recently on a restaurant’s deck, looking out over the ocean, eating seafood appetizers, rapidly drinking fruity rum drinks, listening to, um, Latin-beat pop/dance music and trying in vain to stay angry at the world. It suddenly clicked, and the music flowed over me like a pleasant sea breeze and I was tempted to stand up and dance jerkily like the bunch of deeply-tanned, overweight, loudly-attired middle aged tourists who, like me, were overwhelmed by “beach music” and the amount of drink you can pump through yer system while eating salty seafood. While Five Iron Frenzy do a racy cover of the Tom Jones classic, “It’s Not Unusual,” much of this tangent really has little to do with the band, but when else am I gonna get the chance to admit this?)
(www.fiveminutewalk.com)