Cassette Review // Drunk Dial: Fakes - Volume Three by Various Artists (Drunk Dial Records)

 https://drunkdialrecords.bandcamp.com/album/drunk-dial-fakes-volume-three

Lately I've been thinking a lot about music and the role that it plays in film.  Using a film, as a director/writer, to also push some musical artists you adore is always something I love to see.  But I never quite think about how many bands or artists have existed in ways which are only in the films or television shows.  I did kind of always wonder why movies had fake bands go into the film rather than just have an actual band cameo, like the way Mudhoney appeared in "Black Sheep" with Chris Farley.  

Being that this is the third volume of songs from fake bands, I guess it goes to show just how many of these situations just seem to happen.  But I think, and as this cassette says, these are about those songs which get stuck in your head but just... aren't real.  On the first volume of this cassette series, there is a cover of "Killer Tofu" by The Beets from the animated series "Doug" and at least once a month or so I sing "Oh-ee-oooh, killer tofu" randomly or when I see tofu.  Isn't it odd to think that perhaps so much of the music which we took to heart and knew as children has just not been real?

While some of these songs might feel more obvious, some of them are deep cuts.  "Spinal Tap" and "Scott Pilgrim" feel like a must when covering totally not real songs, but to hear "The Thermos Song" from "The Jerk" on here was quite a surprise.  One of the bands on here I don't think people remember enough are The Zits, who played a large part in my childhood as well, as they were on what I consider to still be the best times at Degrassi.  

Hearing a song on here by a fictional band from "The Adventures of Pete & Pete" is interesting as well because a lot of the music for that show was done by Polaris, who were kind of a fake band in their own way (Not really, but on the edge of it I guess).  So many of these choices are so good though and the way in which they are covered by the bands on this cassette is equally as good.  This feels like a legi compilation and not one of fake songs.

Perhaps the biggest artist in here which needs discussion though is the fake band Jessie and The Rippers.   At that time, if you were on a television show of a certain variety, odds are that you had a band.  This was made apparent if you watched shows like "Saved By The Bell".  Possibly one of my deepest cuts is that I absolutely loved the band and show named after them "California Dreams".  This was a completely fake band who would play a new song seemingly every week.  I also have a compact disc of California Dreams in my collection, to which I may or may not know all the words.

[Side Note: Should you feel inclined if you knew the show or are just curious, Jay Anthony Franke (who played Jake on "California Dreams", has a really fun Instagram account where he talks about how when he first started the show he had no idea what he was doing but he did pick up how to play throughout the various seasons]

While I wonder why those in charge didn't just put real bands in place of fake ones, to give them some exposure, the way that this cassette can have you listening to a song and being transported back to a different place in time, it can also have you hearing TV Cop, Sex Mex or SPELLS for the first time, which does help to promote those bands that you might not have otherwise heard of before.   The way that this cassette brings that realness to fake songs is just reason enough to get into it- because when you can make something real like this, it is magical.