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The Aquabats

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The Aquabats are a musical ensemble 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 The Toy Dolls, Devo, Oingo Boingo, Madness, Surf Punks, Peter Tosh, and The Skatalites.

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Band members

The members of the band are not commonly known by their true names, instead they go by superhero pseudonyms. They usually 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: The group is also sometimes aided by Professor Monty Corndog (often referred to simply as "The Professor" or "professor"), the man who supposedly gave the band their superpowers.

Many members have come and gone from The Aquabats. Past members of the band include:

Band history

Being a band of superheroes, having so many people come and leave seems unusual. The band explains this as follows. After the first album Ben the Brain, Nacho, and Roddy B., quit the band not being able to cope with the superhero status. The band then found Ultra Kyu and Baron von Tito, and the professor gave them superpowers. The band, wanting a sax and keyboard player, asked the professor for help. He then built Jaime The Robot. During the band's tour, blink-182 needed a drummer and recruited Baron von Tito, who revealed his secret identity and denounced his super hero name, fully becoming Travis Barker. The Aquabats then got the professor to give powers to Doctor Rock, who would be their new drummer. Ultra Kyu changed his name to the Mysterious Kyu (seeing that that name was much cooler), and from 1999 to 2003, their line up stayed the same. After the Serious Awesomeness DVD for unexplained reasons, Catboy, Doctor Rock, and The Mysterious Kyu left the band. The band then released the Yo, Check Out This Ride!(EP), with Chainsaw on lead guitar, and Prince Adam taking second guitar and leaving the trumpet behind. Ricky Fitness, a local body builder was recruited to play drums and given powers of super strength. Prince Adam soon left the band, telling the band that he was going to be in a commune in Southern Asia, making special organic foods for half-eaten tigers. In 2005 the band released Charge!!. For the tour, they recruited Popeye as a second guitarist. This did not last long, and Popeye left the band. On the Post-Charge!! tour, Prince Adam came back to the band playing trumpet and 2nd guitar. Here was where he announced that he was living in a commune in Southern Asia, making special organic foods for half-eaten tigers. He left the band after the tour to go back to his real reason for leaving the band, Digital Unicorn. Recently, Chainsaw left and was replaced by Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk.

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:

  • Space Monster M
  • Powdered Milk Man
  • The Sandfleas
  • The Silver Skull
  • The Floating Eye of Death
  • Cyclopsis
  • Grungor
  • Weedy, the Broccoli-Bee
  • The Werecrip
  • Kitty Litter
  • Cobra Man
  • Lobster man
  • Android Dolphin
  • The Lab Rabbit
  • Clowny Clown Clown
  • The Cosmic Gisler
  • Pink Tusk
  • The Rock Monster
  • Mant
  • Pumpkin Face
  • Russian Hackers
  • Armani Ape
  • Dr. Space Mummy
  • GWAR
  • The Mauler
  • The Red Spider Gang
  • El Demonico
  • The "Big Cheese"
  • The Cat With 2 Heads
  • The Tiger Eating Rock Monster
  • The Time Sprinkler
  • The Money Man
  • The White Buffalo
  • The Cobnobbler
  • Communist Rabbit
  • Toxic Waste Man

The band has a number of super hero allies, that are present in the band mythology. Some of whom appear onstage to help the Aquabats.

The band is often attacked in between songs during their shows by various monsters, whom they usually dispatch in a timely matter. On the band's most recent tour, in support of Charge!!, the shows have featured villain segments where a monster (such as Powdered Milk Man) walks on stage and is beaten by the MC Bat Commander with a microphone in an unusual fashion, only to have the Professor come onstage and inform the Commander that the monster was friendly, and only trying to watch the show. The Commander then reflects on how one should not judge a person by their appearance, and the show resumes.

Aquacadets

The band is supported by a fiercely loyal fan club known as the 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 next Aquacadet Summit will be held on July 22, 2006 at an unknown venue in San Diego, California, conveniently taking place around the time and place of the annual Comic-Con. The Cadets also maintain a message board community on the official Aquabats website, [link].

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 rashguard. The mask is worn with the black side out, and people seen wearing it with the blue side out are referred to as noobs by long time fans. The rashguard has changed over the many years, and they currently wear the light blue ones worn on the cover of Charge!! (although they have also recently worn a purple rashguard as well as a black one with a nike logo). The most complex rashguard were the ones made for The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!. The mask and (black) Anti-Negativity helmet are usually sold at shows and easily obtainable. The rashguards 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. While the Aquabats uniforms contain many colored rashguards as well as silver Anti-Negativity Helmets, the fans are only offered the sale of black rashguards and helmets. Many believe this is a way to keep the band and fans separate, although silver helmets were sold at a few shows in California a few years back.

Brandon Bird has worked on costume design for The Aquabats in the past.

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!".

External links

 

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