Listening Post - The Knack - Serious Fun

The Knack - Serious Fun - 1991

The first thing you notice about the reunion album by The Knack, recorded 10 years after they broke up, is just how...generic it sounds.
With Don Was's hands on the dials the album has a certain crunch to it but that doesn't help, it doesn't make it better, in fact, it just makes the whole proceedings sound anonymous.

The cheekiness of the last 3 albums is non-existent. Somewhere in there are the spines of classic Fieger/Averre songs, but they are so muddied by production, production which sounds like...omg....like The Tubes' Love Bomb. I mean, just listen to "I'll be Your Mau Mau".

That's what it reminds me of. The band is there, I think. The songs were written by the same guys. But, the sound has been so updated for the 90s that everything we fell in love with is missing.

If a track shows promise, like "Serious Fun", the lyrics kick in and they are as trite as the weakest Power Pop you've ever heard. Like latter days Rubinoos trite. Like "Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat" era Sparks trite.

Whereas some of the songs on earlier albums barely crossed the 2 minute mark, just about every song here hovers around 4 minutes and, you know what? That's too much. It's like "how many songs are too many Ramones songs for one listen?" (Answer...about 18) I mean, come on, "River of Sighs" is over 5 minutes long! For a Knack song!!! And that one sounds like the band is trying to be...um...Poison of all things. The same for "Shine", which tries so hard to be Anthemic! that the band gets lost.

I've spent too much time writing about this record. It's not great. It's forgettable and at times boring. It could have been better. Maybe next time.

Grade: C-
ASide: Rocket O' Love, Serious Fun, Doing the Dog
BlindSide: One Day at a Time, I'll be Your Mau Mau
DownSide: River of Sighs, Let's Get Lost