Cheer Up! (Reel Big Fish album)

Musically, Cheer Up! has been described as pop-punk[22][23] and power pop;[24][25] it has also been tagged as ska by one critic, but this has been disputed by another critic that said the band moved away from the genre in favor of rock.[23][26] Mark Bushy of Punktastic similarly said it was "not a pop-punk album in any sense of imagination".[27] Kenneth Partridge in his book Hell of a Hat: The Rise of '90s Ska and Swing (2021) wrote that it start with "five horn-fueled rock songs and offers only niblets of ska thereafter".[5] AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that the "tempos have slowed down a little, and they've spent more time crafting their songs, punching up the melody to the forefront, turning this into more of a pop album than a smirky rock album".[24] CMJ New Music Report writer Brooke Mongomery said it tackles the topic of heartbreak by "excorcising your rejection demons and embracing the 'loser' identity, and being much happier in the end" as a result.[26]

Discussing the title, Jones said "if you are looking at lyrics in the album, they're really really sad and depressing, self-deprecating, you know, worse than any other album! I think Aaron was just in a weird kinda phase, kinda bummed out with the whole Mojo situation".[28] In a 2015 interview, Barrett said of the release: "I don’t want to say this was a midlife crisis album, but it kind of was because we were trying to do different things and not repeat the exact same thing again".[3] For previous releases, Barrett would write the majority of the tracks by himself; for Cheer Up!, Barrett would start with a main thematic part and then work on it with the rest of the members through jamming.[28] Klopfenstein said he had more involvement in the writing, with him and Barrett collaborating on some of the tracks.[29] In addition to their regular roles, Klopfenstein played electric piano, an octave solo on "Good Thing", lead vocals on "Drunk Again", and guitar on six of the album's songs, and trumpeter Tavis Werts played flugelhorn on ten of the tracks. Tyler Jones of Spring Heeled Jack contributed trumpet to "What Are Friends For", "Valerie" and "Boss DJ".[19]

Cheer Up! opens with "Good Thing", which features percussion from Ryland Steen of Square; Jones said it was Barrett's "first happy song", and that it referred to being in Reel Big Fish.[19][28] In Music We Trust co-founder Alex Steininger said "Ban the Tube Top" is a "silly love song about an underage girl that turns them on because of the skintight tube top she is sporting".[25] It is bookended by "Somebody Loved Me", which is in the vein of Loverboy, and "Cheer Up", which recalls the work of Sugar Ray.[30] "Where Have You Been?" borders on alternative rock; it came about from Barrett trying to write a sequel to "Beer" after being asked to by Mojo.[23][28][3] Someone had suggested to him that he swap the ska guitar part for picking to make it more distinct from "Beer". It initially had a horn section that was ultimately scrapped.[3] The song's narrator discusses his girlfriend, who does not hang around with him often, with the narrator proclaiming she should "go to hell".[4] "Suckers" includes percussion samples from Iki Levy, who would contribute the same for "Sayonara Senorita".[19]

"What Are Friends For" is a slow-tempo ska track that includes drum samples and percussion from Kyle Homme, and is followed by another ska song, "A Little Doubt Goes a Long Way".[4][19][25] The stadium anthem song "Rock 'n Roll Is Bitchin'" evokes the work of Spinal Tap.[22][26] "New York, New York" (1977), a Liza Minnelli cover, is done in an a cappella style, with vocal percussion from Shawn Sullivan.[19][26] The band had been asked to record the song for Frank Sinatra tribute album, and did it in a cappella as Jones said it would have been "really hard" to perform it like a big band could. The people behind the release were disappointed as they wanted something akin to the band's typical ska sound.[28] The Latin instrumental "Sayonara Senorita" is followed by a reggae version of "Boss DJ", where Johnson servers as the titular DJ.[19][27][30] The penultimate track, "Brand New Hero" also touches on alternative rock, while the closing song, "Drunk Again", takes influence from Lionel Richie and includes a string arrangement from Nic. tenBroek.[19][23]

In January and February 2001, the band embarked on a tour of Europe.[31] In April and May 2001, they then went on a short US tour, followed by a UK tour in June 2001.[32] A Canadian tour with Home Grown was followed by a co-headlining tour with Goldfinger, where they were supported by Home Grown, Rx Bandits, Zebrahead, Mest, and the Movielife.[33][34] After one show, Barrett fell down a flight of stairs and injured his elbow, resulting in Valentine covering guitar duties again.[35] They played a few shows in Hawaii and Japan with Zebrahead, prior to a European tour in August 2001.[36][37] In September 2001, it was announced that the Zomba Group had acquired Mojo Records; alongside this, it was reported that Reel Big Fish's next album would appear in early 2002.[15][38] They said this move was part of a "push to diversify [Zomba's] artist roster and beef up its catalog offerings".[39] The following month, the band signed to Jive Records, a Zomba subsidiary; the label re-released the band's previous two albums shortly afterwards.[15] Barrett said "Mojo wanted more of a modern rock hit [not ska]. But on Jive we were allowed to do things like 'Boss DJ' and 'Valerie'".[40]

They toured with Goldfinger in October 2001; for this trek, Steen covered for Reel Big Fish's drummer Carlos De La Garza.[15] On October 15, 2001, Werts left the band, which they said was due to an internal conflict.[15][41] The following month, Jones was announced as his replacement; Spring Heeled Jack had previously toured with Reel Big Fish in 1998.[28][15][42] Jones talked to the Pilfers manager Randy Nichols, who in turn put him in contact with Reel Big Fish's manager, who informed him of the situation.[41] He later explained that Barrett "once described [Werts] to me as his mortal enemy".[28] They embarked on a US tour throughout the month, however, Jones had to return home because of an illness in his family.[41][43] In February and March 2002, they embarked on a mainland European tour with Sum 41 and a UK tour with Goldfinger.[15][44] As a stop-gap release, Favorite Noise, a compilation of songs from their preceding albums, was released in Europe in March 2002.[45] Barrett explained that they did not have a domestic release available in Europe, only import editions, so the label released the compilation to compensate.[13]

On April 5, 2002, Cheer Up! was announced for release in two months' time.[46] The following month, the band filmed a music video for "Where Have You Been".[47] "Where Have You Been?" was released to modern rock radio stations on May 27, 2002, and in the following week, "Good Thing", "Ban the Tube Top", "What Are Friends For" were posted on the band's website.[18] The European CD version of "Where Have You Been?" included "Average Man" and a cover of "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" (1949) as its B-sides, alongside the "Where Have You Been?" music video.[48] Barrett said their label "decided ['Where Have You Been?'] was the single because there were no horns on it and they said horns were over".[3] The video for the song opens with Barrett singing outside a café, and later behind a display case, intermittently cutting to the band performing in a room with mannequins.[49] A version of "Where Have You Been?" posted on the band's website included a spoken-word introduction that was left off the album version as Barrett felt it "would get old".[40]

Originally planned for release in April 2002,[16] Cheer Up! was eventually released on June 25, 2002; the UK edition, which saw release on July 29, 2002, included "Rock It with I" and a cover of "Kiss Me Deadly" (1988) by Lita Ford as bonus tracks.[18][50] The latter had been previously available two years ago as part of a benefit album for the Heal the Bay advocacy group.[51] The cover art of the evil clown was drawn by Aaron Barrett's father.

Between June and August 2002, the group went on the Warped Tour, where they were accompanied by Chris Rhodes of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and formerly of Spring Heeled Jack for the trek.[28][52] Garza took a break from the band due to the death of a family member, resulting in Steen covering for him again.[18] Following this, they appeared at the Reading Festival in the UK; the band pulled out of the accompanying Leeds date due to delays and no other act letting them switch stage times with them.[20][18] In September and October 2002, they embarked on a headlining US tour, with support from the Starting Line and the Kicks.[53] They ended the year touring Australia and Japan.[54]

In January and February 2003, Reel Big Fish went on a European tour with Sugarcult and the Starting Line; Reel Big Fish were once again joined by Rhodes for the trek.[55] Between March and May 2003, the band headlined Skate and Surf Fest, appeared at the Ska Summit and Download Festivals, and toured with Home Grown and Los City Angels.[56][57][58][59] On June 14, 2003, Garza left the band to focus on his family and was replaced by Justin Ferreria, who previously played with Barrett in the Forces of Evil.[60][61] Klopfenstein said Garza had become tired of music overall and the constant touring involved.[21] Since this was in the middle of a tour, the band forgoed an audition process and simply asked him if he could play the drums and had a passport.[62] Between June and August, the band embarked on a headlining North American tour; Zebrahead, Wakefield and the Matches appeared on all of the shows while Gob and Riddlin' Kids supported on select dates.[56][60][63] One show on the tour was filmed as part of The Show Must Go Off! series.[64] At the end of August, the band appeared at the Terremoto Festival.[65] In November 2003, the band supported Zebrahead for a few shows in Japan, and then played a one-off show in Hawaii with the Matches.[66]

The Show Must Go Off video album, subtitled Live at the House of Blues, was released on November 18, 2003, which was promoted with a signing session the same day.[67] "Ban the Tube Top", "Cheer Up", "Where Have You Been?", "Suckers" and "Give It to Me" were included on the band's third compilation album Greatest Hit...And More (2006).[68] "Good Thing", "Ban the Tube Top", "Where Have You Been?", and "Suckers" were included on the band's fourth compilation album A Best of Us... For the Rest of Us (2010). In addition to this, acoustic renditions of "Where Have You Been?", and "Suckers" were included on the accompanying Skacoustic disc.[69]