*** Me First & the Gimme Gimmes

HAVE A BALL

(Fat Wreck Chords)

Somebody seems to make an album like this every few years, either with cheesy Top 40 songs done in punk style or vice versa. Me First & the Gimme Gimmes do the former, and they stand out simply because they're so damn spirited about it -- tearing through Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" and Barry Manilow's "Mandy" as if they were newly unearthed Ramones outtakes. James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" gets exactly what it deserves; a hyperspeed rendition of Carly Simon's The Spy Who Loved Me theme "Nobody Does It Better" may be the most glaring mismatch of artist and song since Tiny Tim's "Stairway to Heaven."

Led by NoFX bassist Fat Mike, this outfit formerly included the likes of Mike Watt and Green Day's Billie Joe; it now comprises a bunch of punk rockers with nothing better to do (No Use for a Name guitarist Jake Jackson is the best known). They earn extra points for the packaging, which is lifted directly from a Crew Cuts album my dad used to own. And the notes include some tips for better bowling, the most helpful of which is "Don't throw your ball in the gutter."

-- Brett Milano