Team Adventure Club - The Very Best Of Team Adventure Squad

Team Adventure Club

The Very Best Of Team Adventure Squad
self-released; 2014

3.6 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

As far as I can gather Team Adventure Squad is a one-man band that has a passion of power pop. On his recent release The Very Best Of Team Adventure Squad he presents thirteen songs that are more often than not catchy but always unpretentious and fun. He mixes in various styles along the way including funk and rock that make the ride from the beginning to the end of the album a pleasure.The biggest issue with the album is the production. On some songs especially those with distorted guitars it adversely affects the listening experience.

He kicks off the album with “The Team Adventure Squad Theme Song,” which sounds like it could be the theme song to a Saturday morning cartoon. It’s undeniably poppy and has a vocal melody that whether you like it or not is going to be stuck in your head. I have to admit to there is something  quirky yet extremely fun about the song. “Slow Motion” has a similar organ sound to “Baba O’Riley” by The Who while “Anger” is a straight up rock song. 

In my humble opinion I felt the funk he breaks out on “All Night Long (I want to do my taxes with you)” was his biggest strength. He combines horns, wah guitar with humorous sing-along type lyrics The song is a lot of fun, his vocals sound great and it’s pretty gosh darn funny. “The Crusty Monkey Song” is also a humorous song but he sounded more like an Eddie Vedder knock off on this song. 

Another highlight is the dubstep-influenced “If You Ain’t Happy.” It’s a chill song that is perfect for taking in while relaxing in a hammock with a margarita. I'd have to say the song "I'm not A Beaver (I am an otter)" was the silliest song not the album. He exaggerates his voice into a high falsetto for most of the song and made me think of a song you would hear on a children's tv show.

The Very Best of Team Adventure Squad is a mixed bag of tricks. Some songs really nail it while others don't quite hit the mark. Overall, it was a fun ride.

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