Reggie and the Full Effect: Greatest Hits 1984–1987

You never know what you’re gonna get in a spin-off by the band’s keyboard player. A side project that somehow feels like a direct result of Matt Sharp doing his whole semi-successful Weezer side project that became the full-time prospect, The Rentals. Granted, in this case James Dewees brought along his The Get Up Kids bandmates for this dalliance into pop-punk glory. That, oddly, sounds not completely unlike a mashup of Weezer and The Rentals. Which, if we’re looking all the way back to 1999, was a pretty cool direction.

But, like a lot of Weezer’s catalog, it’s not always clear if this is an honest endeavor or just meant as a joke. Sure, there’s a bit of tongue-in-cheek about the whole project — which includes little clips of fans and even a short clip/track entitled “Fiona Apple Can Kiss My Black Ass” — but it’s not as if The Get Up Kids don’t also have their moments of pop levity. Here, though, it feels like Reggie and the Full Effect is set up to both subvert and fulfill expectations of true pop rock tunes. Take the first proper track in the album, “Girl, Why’d You Run Away.” It starts off with drumming that would indicate we’re in for a hardcore record, but quickly shifts to a pretty incredible pop-punk ditty with crunchy guitars and great keyboard flourishes. Which would have been right at home on Pinkerton.

The second proper track, “What’s Wrong,” sounds like this 2001 Silver Scooter song, “Albert Hall,” but makes you wonder how many of these tunes were unused Get Up Kids tracks that didn’t make Something To Write Home About. Though it seems like that record and this one were somehow recorded simultaneously, so I’m sure that’s probably not a thing. I’m not putting this record in par with that one, but this is some pretty damned good pop music. The third proper song, “Your Girlfriends Hate Me,” is another banger with its spazzy keys and an incredibly catchy hook that amps up the energy. I truly love this song and don’t get why it didn’t get wider exposure. I will get pilloried for saying this, but it’s on par with most of the best Get Up Kids songs. Honestly, the first three songs on this album establish an incredible trifecta not often pulled off in this era of emo / pop punk. The only break in the wonderfulness are the goofy sound clips that I obviously couldn’t edit out on my original CD version of this album (without burning a whole new edited copy). They’re generally pretty short, but if you just take your streaming platform of choice, remove the fluff and stack tunes, this is a really solid listen.

I think if this record came out in a different era it might have been better regarded. The audiences may have been looking for more earnestness in their music. Weezer had vanished from the scene in 1999 after dropping Pinkerton all the way back in 1996 (and wouldn’t release the Green Album until 2001), so this kind of middle ground between the contemporary 1999 sophomoric pop nonsense of a Lit’s A Place in the Sun or even blink-182’s Enema of the State and the more sappy, but earnest emo crooning of Get Up Kids just didn’t pick a side and probably confused their audience’s sensibilities. Because back then you had to kind of choose if you were trad emo or you were goofy pop-punk. But, goddamn, if tunes like “Your Boyfriend Hates Me” won’t hold up against anything else in that era’s pop rock pantheon. Anyway, it’s not my job to yell at the world for ignoring things I like. Otherwise I’d be shaking my fist at the sky 24-7. If you care at this point, there was a reissue of this record in 2004 on Vagrant that added seven additional tracks that add not much at all. I chalk it all up to a confusing album title and just a little too much humility and jokiness in presenting an album that should have been a bigger deal than it was.