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M.O.D. > Surfin' M.O.D. > Reviews
M.O.D. - Surfin' M.O.D.

Dude...like...Totally!!! - 60%

hells_unicorn, January 19th, 2011

In spite of everyone insisting not to take anything that Billy Milano does seriously, I can’t help but see a serious side in his various projects, mostly insofar as the music goes. Lyrically, he’s pretty much all jokes and sometimes an actual punch-line, but even when things are at their most pointless, there’s a charm that saves his material from being garbage bin fodder. In light of this, my defense of this rather odd and unusual EP will follow suit, by pointing out that despite Milano’s really goofy and out of tune vocals, and the somewhat dubious subject matter at play here, that this album works on a few levels.

In terms of the 2 variations that “Surfin’ M.O.D.” contains, the primary version, simply titled “The Movie” is the weaker version, if for no other reason than that ripping on surf culture is something of an easy target and the constant repeats of “Dude, gnarly, and totally” get old pretty fast. The samples of Frankie and Annette’s 80s comeback movie “Back To The Beach” are a nice nostalgic touch for anyone who lived through the 80s and fell in love with that rather quirky merging of early 60s and late 80s culture. But the inability to skip around songs makes it a throw away for anyone who wants music without interludes.

As far as the actual musical content on here, it works very well on a parody level for a punk band mocking surf rock, and reveals an all too familiar compatibility between the two styles. One can’t help but notice the similarities in the upbeat yet agitated character of The Ramones and Sex Pistols with the slightly more conformist yet still rocking character of Jan & Dean and The Beach Boys. The guitars are noticeably heavier and the bass is raucous, but it’s all stylistically appropriate and avoids the excesses of speed and aggression common to Milano’s other albums. In fact, taking out Billy Milano’s really kooky sounding vocals would reveal an album that is almost smooth and slick enough to pass for an 80s reinterpretation of these songs, right down to the harmonized backup singers.

M.O.D. are a band that throws in a lot of gimmicks, but this is their only release where the entire album is a gimmick onto itself, and it is easy to see why a lot of people would be turned off by this. It’s one of those albums that you’ll have just for your personal collection, in part due to the creepy album art, but won’t find yourself listening to more than maybe once a year. It’s enjoyable in the same way that a pie in the face is funny; when it happens one time it’s a riot, but twice in a row will usually lead to the clown throwing the pies getting his ass kicked.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on January 19, 2011.

My pants fell to my ankles! Accidentally! - 7%

Napero, May 25th, 2009

The early days of thrash were easy to divide into two parts in many ways. There was the US scene vs. the european scene, Bay Area vs. the rest of the world, and so forth. Basically, no matter which characteristic or measurable variable you look at, there's a fence that easily and recognizably divides the thrash bands neatly in two camps.

One important way to divide the 80s scene is by the comedy factor. The serious bands never joked: Sepultura had a permanent cranky face, the Germans couldn't tell a joke except when drunk, and therefore, only Tankard from their scene has anything the rest of the world could call humour in their music. The US bands, especially such acts as Anthrax, had a measure of disposable, one-shot comedy in their music, usually of the kind that does not work twice. Nuclear Assault did a much better job, and many of their less than serious songs are amusing even after dozens of spins: who could dislike "Hang the Pope", for example? Finnish thrash bands made some timid excursions to the Joke Zone, and perhaps Prestige could be called a joke in its entirety, at least as far as their lyrics and image go.

M.O.D., in 1988, decided to hit the jackpot and empty the slot machine with their comical masterpiece, Surfin' M.O.D., a Mount Doom of all comical music numbers, a crossover joke to end all crossover jokes. They chose an easy target, the surfer crowd and surf music, and tapped their finest creative veins so hard that they probably had to inject more junk just to replace the drained juices to keep their blood pressures high enough to survive. The result is a disaster.

Too often jokes are so bad that they can't be told twice. On an album, that's a sad thing to encounter. An hour of music needs to have replay value, and a bad joke may well spoil that irreversibly. But a really bad joke does not need to be told entirely and all the way to the end to be seen for what it is. That's the lamentable case here: Surfin' M.O.D. is such bad comedy that it takes a dedicated man, preferably under anesthesia, to have the gonads to listen to the 23 minutes of this abomination. Even for the first time. It's irritating. It doesn't work. What's the point? The joke has no punchline, and the songs just suck, covers or not.

Off-key singing, goofy versions of surf music with a hint of C-grade Suicidal Tendencies influence thrown in, a "movie" sound track performed in a punkish way, but not punkish enough to really work as parody, idiotic chatting... where's Teh Funnay? Nowhere. If you really, really need to hear people having this kind of "fun" in the studio, it's advisable to aquire the Infectious Grooves album with the fellow singing "Whipped Cream" after bursting into the studio... M.O.D fails, this alleged comedy album is about as funny as a "which historic pope would you be?" quiz on MySpace. It sends chills down the spine, but not in a good way.

Skip this one. Buy garlic chewing gum or a whoopee cushion and have your own, original comedy sessions with the money instead. Steal you grandma's dentures and give her a carrot. Set a blind man's coat on fire on the street and tell passers-by that it's a hidden camera stunt. Fart in a crowded elevator. Do anything, but don't buy this album. Because anything is funnier than this brown stain on the backside of heavy metal's boxers.

This is a damage to my personal album collection - 49%

CHRISTI_NS_ANITY8, February 29th, 2008

M.O.D. are a quite fun group. They play crossover/thrash metal with some hilarious intros or intermezzo. The ironical element was very important at the time in this genre and this group, with the first album, was able to play quite good music too, but here everything is a bit too excessive for me.

Call me “a bastard without sense of humour” but this is a bit difficult to me to enjoy. “The Movie” is a spoken intro while “Surfin’ USA” is obviously a cover of Beach Boys band. “Surf’s Up” is more punkish with Joey Ramone style vocals by Billy Milano. Normal with good solos.

With the following “Mr Oofus” we can find again fun melodies and rock’n’roll influences, mostly mid paced with strange, faking vocals. “Party Animal” is a faster one, but not on up tempo, always full of punk influences.The cover song “Shout” is forgettable and fun just for few seconds, like the other “Color Of My World” (Chicago cover) or “Sargent Drexell Theme”.

I don’t know why they did this. I know they are crazy but I prefer the first album much more and instead of this I’d rather listen to Lacuna Coil (a group that makes me puke). There’s only one good thing here: the length…and the Beach Boys cover, why not…

Can't see my collection without this one - 90%

morbert, August 15th, 2007

I was in shock when I saw this EP had only gotten pretty bad reviews sofar here on Metal Archives. Something had to be done about this. So here I am. The Surfin’MOD EP is of course a joke. I was meant as one and it is funny as hell. The EP refers to college and surf movies with the obvious hint of Jaws thrown in. It is a parody. So we must listen to it as one. It was a time when humour and mockery were important elements of the eighties crossover scene (take Spazztic Blurr for instance and a lot of the early DRI and Suicidal Tendencies lyrics).

‘Goldfish from Hell’ is a cheap ass Casio keyboard intro based on the Jaws theme. Of course it is. No beach can do without a decent set of teeth, right? ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.’ is the logical cover here. The original track ‘Surf’s Up’ is a great attempt at writing surf-proof crossover metal. Catchy as hell and twenty years later many self respecting eighties metal heads still shout this when entering the water in one way or another. ‘Party Animal’ continues this path and already reveals what their next regular album ‘Gross Misconduct’ would sound like.

The funniest song however is ‘Mr Oofus’. Which is a great and funny Milano-proof crossover tune with Sesamestreet /Muppet Show influenced melodies. Only two tracks that I never enjoyed too much were the Chicago cover ‘Color My World’ (except for the off tune singing) and the Lulu cover ‘Shout’.

The ultimate thrash comedy movie - 55%

MetalReaper, August 28th, 2004

Actually I bought this album on vinyl because of it's cover art, which I wanted to scare children off my record collection. When I examined the track list I was surprised by the amount of the tracks, especially on the A-side or "Movie side". Most of the "songs" were only speech which lasted about 30 seconds at maximum. The oddball Billy Milano has made very unusual "album" with his new line-up. There's a story on the album (but I don't tell it, haha) featured a couple of party animals and goofy dialogues.

Vinyl version's A-side is titled "Movie side". The "Movie side" has those annoying little speeches between the songs. B-side is named as "Sound track side without the movie" which redeems it's promises. The real songs of the album are twice here, with or without interval speeches. There's total of seven songs on this album, and three of them are covers! It's known fact that Milano is crazy.

Album starts with the "Jaws" theme, which really fits to the concept of the album. After boring talking the band throws in cover, which you couldn't have expected from any metal band, The Beach Boys classic "Surfin' U.S.A.". M.O.D's cover choice is actually good and they make really good version of that song, without sounding too stupid. "Surf's up" is an ordinary thrash metal song. Nothing new, expect the lyrics, which make surfing to sound very boring with lines "party my life away" and "don't see a future". "Sargent Drexell theme" has a bass driven intro and it's overall very short.

Album's best song is easily "Mr. Oofus". With really nice intro on it and hilarious lyrics telling about very old-fashioned and strict inspector Oofus (what a name!). It's the best track alongside with "Party animal", which actually tells about M.O.D.'s guys, who enjoy ruining other people's days going to their parties without being invited. Consequences are known. Last two track are both covers. First one is Chicago's "Color my world". Milano makes fun of all those weepy love ballads out there with strong falsetto singing, which can't be laughed at. Last song is The Luvvers cover "Shout". Song is funny and happy with goofy backing vocals and minimal use of distorted guitar.

If "Surfin' M.O.D." were a movie, it would be a crappy Hollywood comedy. Every film has somekind of love scene, and M.O.D. makes fun of them with "Color my world", ending the record with hilarious "Shout". It's time for the end credits.