The Riptides – “Tales from Planet Earth” (Asian Man Records) I’ll be the first to admit that I have loved just about everything that The Riptides have put out. So as a big Riptides fan, I was giddy about the release of “Tales from Planet Earth”, especially after hearing the leaked song “Hung Up”, which is an amazing song. It’s a smooth pop punk song with great hooks, melodies, and the whole 9 yards. Prior to receiving my copy I was reading some peoples thought on the album and some thought that the singer (Andy Vandal) sounded disinterested and lacking emotion.
As soon I got my copy I threw it across the house like a Frisbee right onto the turntable. All of my anxiety about the album was soon displaced with excitement towards “Tales from Planet Earth”. Ha, those people who said the album lacked passion are bonkers. I will admit that the album is on the more mellow side of the Riptides pendulum, but lacking emotion it is not! On the contrary, I’d say this album is by far the most melodically & emotionally complete album they’ve done to date. Maybe it’s because The Riptides have shown so much range in the past with rough and tough power songs (“So Long And Thanks For The Beer”, “I Wanna Riot” & “Red Dawn”) to the Beach Boys/ Queers influenced surf style pop punk (“Heartbreaker”, “You’re A Twat” & “I Wanna Go Surfin”) that it has some people confused?
“Tales from Planet Earth” is a great fucking album and probably the most complete The Riptides have done. They throw in a lot of Oh’s, Ah’s, OOO’s and Whoa oh’s in all the right places and jam packed with more hooks than your grandpa’s tackle box. I wouldn’t say this album is one that you would throw on to get your blood pumping, but it is definitely an album you could throw on for a nice make out session on the couch or just turn it up loud and sing along to it on a long drive. Best songs on “Tales from Planet Earth”; “Call Me”, “Hung Up”, “She Gets Around”, “Omega Man”, & “I Can’t Have a Merry Christmas”
