Fresh off Madison’s Quinceañera, Spike and the Gimme Gimmes are back with another full-length. This time around, they eschew a singular theme, opting instead for a straightforward collection of well-known hits draped in their signature punk rock glitter jacket.
Opener “It’s Raining Men” immediately sets the tone, John Reis’ distinctive guitar style is plastered all over Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy,” and even the Backstreet Boys get the high-energy Gimmes treatment on “I Want It That Way.” Elsewhere, their classic punk-riff mashups are in fine form: they weld the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” onto Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” and segue the Dead Boys’ “Sonic Reducer” intro into Duran Duran’s “Rio” (even if they already pulled that exact trick on their cover of Lady Gaga’s “Speechless”).
There are no massive curveballs to be found on Shit the Bed, and chances are you made up your mind about the Gimmes long ago. Still, it’s an entertaining ride all the way through to the grand finale, where they tackle “We Are the World” backed by an all-star punk choir featuring Milo Aukerman (Descendents), Jim Lindberg (Pennywise), Tony Reflex (Adolescents), Dani Miller (Surfbort), Blag Dahlia (The Dwarves), Nikki Corvette, Dicky Barrett, and Efrem Schulz, among others.
The worst thing about Shit The Bed? When you suddenly find Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” stuck in your head all day long.
