The Aquabats

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The Aquabats

The Aquabats! are a band from Southern California known for their humorous lyrics and outrageous live shows, during which the band is often attacked by supervillains onstage. Their early releases were heavily rooted in ska music in its Third Wave form, with touches of surf and punk in a madcap blend. The band's later albums have moved far beyond their ska roots and have branched into many musical genres, including a large electronic influence. Their current sound, as heard in their new album Charge!! blends upbeat rock and roll, New Wave-type pop-punk, and ska/rocksteady with synth replacing their horn section. Notable influences upon The Aquabats are Supernova, The Toy Dolls, Devo, Oingo Boingo, Madness, Surf Punks, Peter Tosh, and The Skatalites.

Band members

The members of the band are not commonly known by their true names, instead they go by superhero pseudonyms. They wear superhero outfits on stage. Anti-negativity helmets, rash guards, and power belts designed by Paul Frank generally make up these costumes. The current members of the band, and the instruments they play are:

In previous years, the band was sometimes aided by Professor Monty Corndog (often referred to simply as "The Professor" or "Professor" and played by MCBC's brother), the man who supposedly gave the band their superpowers.

The Aquabats! member history

1995-1997
1997-1999
1999-2002
2002
2003-2005
2005-2006
2006-

Band mythology

The Aquabats! have an extensive backstory concerning their origin. According to the story, the band used to live on an idyllic island known as "Aquabania", surfing all day and eating food all night. However, when Aquabania was attacked by the powerful villain Space Monster 'M', the group was forced to flee their home and take to the ocean in a hollowed-out log. They finally landed in California, where they were taken in by the kind Professor, who proceeded to use chemicals to give the band their powers. But then, Space Monster 'M' placed a bounty on the heads of The Aquabats attracting various villains and monsters from all over the earth and space. The band decided to use their musical powers to take over the world (for good) and defeat Space Monster 'M'. To this day, the band continues to be attacked by various villains and ne'er-do-wells, some of which are listed below:

The band has a number of super hero allies, that are present in the band mythology.

  • The Pigbat
  • Professor Monty Corndog
  • Sea Ghost
  • Magic Chicken
  • The Wrestling Roadies
  • Bad Credit
  • Digital Unicorn
  • Danger Woman

The band is often attacked in between songs during their shows by various monsters, whom they usually dispatch in a timely matter. In more recent shows (2006) the MC Bat Commander has been defeated, only to be brought back to life by the spirit of the crowd.

The Aquabats Cadet Faction

The band is supported by a fiercely loyal fan club, The Aquabats Cadet Faction, in which its members are commonly known as Aquacadets. Every year or so, the band holds a special Cadet-only show known as the Aquacadet Summit. This is usually held in a secret location revealed only to the Cadets. However, Summits usually take place in the Southern California area. The last Aquacadet Summit was held on July 22, 2006 in San Diego, California. The Cadets also maintain a message board community on the official Aquabats website, [1]; as well as its own fan site, [2]. To become a cadet you must purchase your membership on the official Aquabats merchandise website when they have allotted memberships available. Since not all costuming apparel is not available via the official Aquabats merchandise website, often Cadets are outfitted with a combination of handcrafted and purchased gear.

They might not be cadets, but whatev homie.

Aquabats gear

The Aquabats! wear a uniform while playing shows. The uniform consists of an Anti-Negativity Helmet (made of neoprene), mask (also made of neoprene), power belt (made by Paul Frank out of vinyl), and a rash guard. The mask is worn with the black side out, and those seen wearing it with the blue side out are often referred to as noobs by long-time fans. The rash guard has changed multiple times over The Aquabats' many years as a band. They currently wear the light blue rash guards seen on the cover of Charge!! The most complex rash guards were those made for The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death! The mask and (black) Anti-Negativity helmet are usually sold at shows and are easily obtainable. The rash guards are harder to acquire, but can now be bought from their online shop as well as at live shows, while the power belt is not sold any longer. The Aquabats' uniforms have included many colored rashguards as well as silver Anti-Negativity Helmets. The fans were only offered black rashguards until October 2006 when 200 limited edition light blue rashguards were sold on the band's website in time for Halloween. Limited editon silver helemts were also released shortly after. In the past, silver helmets were sold at a few shows in California.

Brandon Bird has worked on costume design for The Aquabats! in the past. He also was commissioned to create an Aquabats coloring book.

Discography

The Aquabats! signed to Nitro Records in 2004. Tracks from the new album were performed at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, as well as at shows in Arizona. Official track listings, album art, release dates, and the album title were announced April 1st (April Fool's Day) on the official web site, along with a free download of a new song, "Fashion Zombies!".

A new album is in the mix for The Aquabats! as of the news on their website from September 05, 2006.

External links

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