ANDREW W.K. – I Get Wet (2001 Universal)

The early 2000s…they were a weird time, man. Just look at the clothes!  One guy who didn’t look like the year 2001 was Andrew Wilkes-Krier.  With a dirty white T-shirt and equally dirty jeans, Andrew W.K. came at the dawn of a new millennium.  His music was both ultra-futuristically sterile, while also being a throwback to the guitars and keyboards of the 80s. It’s impossible to pigeonhole his music into one genre, possessing qualities of pop, metal, and punk. We do know two things about Andrew W.K.: He likes to party, and he likes to write songs about it.

Andrew’s debut album I Get Wet is hard to describe.  It’s loud and banging, while also feeling like the product of a computer.  Though there are deluxe editions and Japanese bonus tracks out there, the core album is just 12 songs and 35 minutes.  Maximum bang per minute.  There are no songs over four minutes, and two that are under two minutes.  The instrumentation is guitars, bass, drums, and “programming”.  It’s impossible to know how many guitars, as several are credited including Phil X.  It’s a thick sound.  There are no solos.  There is no musicianship.  The volume knob has been cranked right off.

Opening up with “It’s Time To Party”, there’s a simple fun riff to headbang to.  Andrew’s yelling/vocals is augmented by keyboards to add melody.  If it were just his bare voice, it would sound very different.  Vocals, keys and guitars are layered thick and drums are cranked up to maximum bang.  It’s in your face, and one of the strangest sounds in rock and roll.  But…so damn catchy.  Dumb and catchy.  Exactly the point.

“Party Hard” was a significant hit.  I remember watching Andrew W.K. on Saturday Night Live one night, and my girlfriend looked at me and said, “You like this stuff?”  I did, and I still hear what I liked.

‘Cause we will never listen to your rules (No),
We will never do as others do (No),
Know what we want and we get it from you,
Do what we like and we like what we do.

The message is simple:  Party hard.  It’s a loud sonic mush, with a monolithic melody and if you were going to call this a guilty pleasure, then I guess it’s a guilty pleasure.

A repeating piano line introduces “Girls Own Love”, which almost sounds like you were listening to a Van Hagar hit at maximum volume, with your head under water and you’ve already held your breath for half a minute.  The overall melody comes through, but everything else is just loud banging.  Even Andrew’s vocals are a mixture between melody and percussion.  Good song!

The video gamey keys that open “Ready To Die” are indicative of the simple melodic construction of the song ahead.  Of course, the monolith of guitars and keyboards and vocals pile on, but you can’t shake the feeling that this is metal Mario music.  It’s a good thing these songs are short, because they usually consist of one or two ideas, rinse and repeat.

The tempos remain on high for “Take It Off”.  The formulaic piano keys ding while we wait for Andrew to start yelling.  You can imagine a sea of morons bouncing up and down to this song in some weird 2001 setting.  You can even envision what they looked like.  Then, “I Like New York City” breaks formula by opening with Andrew’s multitracked vocals.  Basically just a pop song played on guitars.  It’s simple enough to be a children’s song.  You can hear, in different arrangements, how these songs could be themes for Japanese children’s cartoons.

One cool song is “She Is Beautiful”.  To hell with dynamics; this one hits the mark again with the right combination of melody vs. bludgeoning.  It satisfies, but is best experienced with head bobbing.  Then, the delightful “Party Til You Puke” re-grounds the lyrical message where it should be.  You’ll enjoy the chorus of “Party til you puke, party til you puke.”  Probably the hardest song on the album, but it’s a narrow range of choices.  Fortunately, “Fun Night” brings things down to a sane tempo and non-deafening volume.

“Got To Do It” emphasises pop side of things.  It’s weird to hear a song that had this kind of pop potential, but with Andrew W.K.’s growly singing on top.  Without trying to sound like a broken record, it was 2001 and anything goes.  Synth horns are a surprising choice for the title track “I Get Wet” but they’re soon drowned out by the mush of guitars and keys.  You can exchange this song for “Party Hard”, or several of the others, so similar are they.  Finally we end with “Don’t Stop Living in the Red” which starts off like a Journey tune before Andrew’s signature banging kicks in.

Listen, I won’t lie to you.  You’re not going to get any smarter listening to I Get Wet by Andrew W.K.  You might have to put on some Paganini or Dream Theater to make up for the brain cells you burned.  Still, you won’t find anyone that sounds quite like Andrew W.K.  It’s such a strange combination of sugary sweet melodies, and excessively loud and layered guitars and yells.  Sometimes, it’s just what the doctor ordered.  It won’t be an album you play every day (nor should you; consult your pharmacist) but it might just be that perfect drug on the day you need it.

3.25/5 stars