I DO NOT “LOVE” THE NEW UGLY KID JOE SONG

It’s no secret that I love Ugly Kid Joe, and got totally excited when the band announced their reunion last year. And so it was with great excitement this morning that I learned that UKJ have not only recorded a new six song EP, but that one of the songs from said EP, “Love Ain’t True,” has now been played on the radio, which, of course, means it’s now on the internet (above).

And then I actually listened to the song, and then I wept.

It starts out promising enough, with just the kind of simple, catchy, pop metal Jeff Spicoli riff that made the band so much fun in their heyday. But then Whitfield Crane’s vocals kick in… and he’s doing some kind of weird affectation with his voice, and, as if that weren’t irritating enough, he’s rapping. RAPPING. And I know this ain’t the first time Crane has rapped, but I really would have thought that the band learned their lesson following the total commercial and creative disaster that was their last album, 1996’s Motel California — a record so crappy even UKJ defenders like myself hate it. But no. Writing and releasing something more in the vein of “I’ll Keep Tryin’” or “God” would have been too much to ask, I suppose.

And the worst part is that the bridge and the guitar solo that follows that bridge is PERFECT — it’s, like, exactly what I want from this band — but it’s really just a brief tease, ’cause the rest of the song is that ridiculous rapping nonsense again. Sigh.

No word on what the EP is called or when it will be released, but hopefully the other five songs on it will be better than this. And if nothing else, at least we’ll get a tour out of the whole scenario, and we can go see the band play all their old tunes.

-AR

[via Done Waiting]