Quantity is Job 1

Description

Quantity is Job 1 ep is an eight-track CD-EP by the American ska-influenced alternative rock band Five Iron Frenzy , released on 5 Minute Walk Records in 1998, distributed by ForeFront Records in the US through Chordant Distribution Group. The album was recorded at FTM Studios on Denver, Colorado; with Masaki Liu and the band producing. Mixed at One Way Studio in Concord, California. Engineered by Masaki with band member Micah Ortega co-engineering. Cover artwork and illustrations by Douglas TenNapel. It was February 1999 Pick of the Month at The Phantom Tollbooth.

Five Iron Frenzy is Reese Roper on lead vocals, Scott Kerr on guitar and vocals, Micah Ortega on guitar, Nathanael “Brad” Dunham on trumpet, Dennis Culp on trombone and vocals, Leanor (Jeff the Girl) Ortega on saxophone, Keith Hoerig on bass, and Andrew Verdecchio on drums.

In an effort to single-handedly flood the market, Five Iron Frenzy has put on a new disc with their brand of quality music, solid lyrics, and edgy sarcastic humor. A member of the big three Christian ska bands (along with the Insyderz and Supertones), Five Iron Frenzy continues to make music that is comparable to many of its secular counterparts in quality and ability. This album shows some maturing, but for fans of the first two albums there is not too much maturing so they should still love it.

Starting off the disc with a track entitled «My Evil Plan to Save the World», the seven guys and a girl of Five Iron Frenzy show they still know how to have a good time. The band also has some fun with the very short, loud, and fast hardcore punk song «When I Go Out».

One of the most fun pieces is a tribute to what happens when you combine success, the Internet, and some crazy rumors. «The Untimely Death of Brad» talks about the rumors of the loss of trumpeter Brad Dunham:

I might stretch the truth,
May be a little lie,
There was a boy named Brad,
He played trumpet,
And he died,
Too young for him to cease,
Why? We haven’t got a clue,
It’s on the internet,
So then it must be true.

Lead vocalist Reese Roper sings these words very much tongue in cheek, and the band comes through again on a fun tune. The band also succeeds in getting the point across to some over zealous fans to watch out because everything you read about the group or its members is not necessarily true.

Five Iron Frenzy also can be serious with great tracks such as «All That is Good» and «Dandelions». «Dandelions» looks at the idea of God seeing us as beautiful when in reality we are pretty much just weeds:

Lord, search my heart,
Create in me something clean,
Dandelions,
You see flowers in these weeds

All this excitement plus throw in a cover of Electric Light Orchestra’s «Sweet Talkin’ Woman» and a rock opera about pants that has to be heard to truly be understood, and you have a great album from one of the best young bands in music. [Aaron Bell, The Phantom Tollbooth, 1/23/99]

Say what you will about the rise and fall of ska. Comment all you want about fusing the elements of punk rock with horn sections into a fusion that purists might find wanting.

Five Iron Frenzy members need not listen to these or any other criticisms for they have vaulted themselves to the highest echelons of band-dom using a musical form often imitated, but never quite perfected, until now.

The rock opera.

Oh, sure, there are eight other tracks on this so-called EP, like the frenetic opener «My Evil Plan to Save the World», the groovy «Dandelions», the challenging «Get Your Riot Gear» and the excellent cover of Electric Light Orchestra’s «Sweet Talkin’ Woman».

But then you get to track nine, uncredited on the back panel of the disc, and this is where the exceptional journey truly begins. The salsa-driven opener of the eight-cut opera “These Are Not My Pants.”

The story line of the «TANMP» hidden tracks goes something like this: Those are not their pants. In the end, via songs like «57 Britches and Nothing On», «Happy Trousers to You», «Come On, Feel My Inseam», «Everyday People’s Pants» and «Cha-Cha-Chinos» (titles which can only be interpreted from the feel of the songs, as there are no credits), we’re not told whose pants they are, only that they’ve been worn by a surprising number of people despite the fact they are not, truly, their pants.

Brilliance personified.

In this reviewer’s not-so-humble opinion, Five Iron Frenzy should chuck the whole ska thing and concentrate solely on the continued use of this far-too-underutilized musical form. It would do my heart proud to someday watch Tommy Tune present the members of Five Iron the Tony Award for Best New Musical for “These Are Not My Pants.”

Dreams can come true. Live the dream, kids. [Lucas W. Hendrickson, CCM, January 1999]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/quantity-is-job-1-ep/867557119)

CD tracklist:

01. My Evil Plan To Save The World
02. All That Is Good
03. Dandelions
04. One Girl Army
05. Sweet Talkin’ Woman
06. When I Go Out
07. Get Your Riot Gear
08. The Untimely Death Of Brad
09. These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Salsa)
10. These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Meat Loaf)
11. These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Country)
12. These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Heavy Metal)
13. These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (R&B)
14. These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Reggae)
15. These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Cha Cha)
16. These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Hip Hop)
17. When I Go Out / Kingdom Of The Dinosaurs

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by 5 Minute Walk Records. (Tracks 9–17 are not mentioned on the back cover. The inside cover lists track 9 as “These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera)”). Re-issued as a 12-inch vinyl EP by SMLXL Vinyl in 2018 (pressed on both black vinyl and Limited Edition Green Vinyl).

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