The Fun Zone: The Fun

It's an event that I look forward to every spring: the arrival of the latest edition of Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes, a CD collection of novelty music sent out to members of the Demento Society once a year. Since I don't have an opportunity to listen to Dr. D's radio show live, this is often my best chance to survey the humorous music world that exists outside the spheres of Al and the Worms (although the good doctor did turn me on to The Arrogant Worms in the first place). The quality isn't as consistent as the major Dr. Demento releases, but I'm often delighted to find a gem or two that I would never have heard otherwise.

It pains me to say, though, that aside from a scant handful of wonders, Basement Tapes #15 is essentially bland and forgettable. Yes, there are some interesting concepts here, as well as a few competent parodies, but the bulk of the disc just passes by without really grabbing me. Most don't fill me with the immediate desire to share them with others, which I believe to be the ultimate mark of a good novelty song.

Perhaps the lack of Al has something to do with it. Until now, the Basement Tapes have included a rare demo or alternate track from "Weird Al," but there's nothing from the big guy this time around. I always assumed that he'd run out of those classic "rare" tracks eventually, but I just guessed that we'd move on to newer alternate takes or live recordings. The complete absence of Al, right after the release of his new album, seems odd.

At any rate, there are indeed some songs that I'm dying to share with the world. Lemon Demon has a pair of strong contributions: "Every Time You Stifle A Sneeze," a great low-key stream-of-consciousness ramble involving chef's hats and leprechauns, and "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny," in which icons like Batman, Optimus Prime, and Indiana Jones battle it out in a winner-take-all deathmatch. The Doc included a catchy track from the late Logan Whitehurst, "The Villain Who Wears No Pants," which I really wish went on longer than it did. The Great Luke Ski references the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise with "You Don't Know Jack," and Sean Morey compares the differences in what children around the world want for Christmas with "Dear Santa."

My pick of the album, though, is a song that has been stuck in my head since the moment I heard it: Jonathan Coulton's "Re: Your Brains." It's an impassioned plea, sung by a businessman turned zombie, to his former office mate, asking him politely to open up the barricaded door so they can get on with the killing and the eating...

All we wanna do is eat your brains...
We're not unreasonable,
I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes.
All we wanna do is eat your brains...
We're at an impasse here,
Maybe we should compromise.
You open up the doors,
And we'll all come inside and eat your brains...

The concept is so goofy, and the song so pleasant, that I just can't get it out of my head. And I want to play it for everyone I know. And I guess that's what makes the Basement Tapes worth it, despite the blandness of the rest of the album, because I will certainly be paying attention to the work of Jonathan Coulton in the future.

Happy listening.