Warp 11-It's dead, Jim

2007
Reboot



Being a gimmick band might be a bit of a double edged sword. The negative would be that it could limit a band's direction and the positive (in this case) is that the gimmick can provide the band with a built-in audience due to the topic of the gimmick. Warp 11 have released their fourth album of hilarious songs all about Star Trek. The topics here range from masturbation (Jerk my Kirk) to substance abuse (Tribbles and ecstasy) to dealing with the lack of a Trek series on TV (the title track). The music is largely power-pop, but they manage to change the pace frequently and mix things up nicely. The music is catchy enough, but the lyrics are the real drawing card here. Most of the references are to the original series and the Next Generation, but there are a few references to the other series as well. The opening track "Make it so" has a line that goes "I have an alien race sitting on my face". That was enough to convince me that this was one of the funniest albums I have heard in a long time. Now the question that is likely going to come from non-Trek fans is "do I have to be a Trek fan to understand it?". I would say the answer is it helps and longtime Trek fans like myself will get the jokes right away, but I think that most of the songs are not so in depth that they will discourage casual fans from getting the jokes. It has been is regular rotation in my player since I got it. Warp 11 have played clubs, but of course they also get booked fairly often at Star Trek conventions. For more information check out the band's site.

http://www.warp11.com/