"Fashion Zombies!" is a song by American band

The Aquabats The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1994. Throughout many fluctuations in the group's line-up, singer the MC Bat Commander and bassist Crash McLarson have remained the band's two constant fixtur ...

and the leading

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from their fourth studio album ''

Charge!! ''Charge!!'' is the fourth studio album by American comedy rock band The Aquabats, released on June 7, 2005 by Nitro Records. Following a nearly six year semi-hiatus which resulted in numerous line-up changes, ''Charge!!'' was The Aquabats' firs ...

'', released on

Nitro Records Nitro Records was an American independent record label, founded in 1994 and operated by The Offspring's Dexter Holland and Greg K. Nitro is famous for being an incubator for punk rock artists who have subsequently become successful, most notabl ...

in 2005.

Overview

"Fashion Zombies!" was the first single released from The Aquabats' 2005 album ''

'', which itself was the first album the band had released after a nearly six-year quasi-hiatus from studio recording, during which they had experienced several major changes in their line-up which resulted in a significant shift in musical style. Musically, the song matches the stylistic direction of the rest of the album, featuring a guitar and keyboard-driven rock sound which Johnny Loftus of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

described as a "concise

lice Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a resul ...

of new wave-inspired pop that retain that particular Aquabatian flair for the totally wiggy". Lyrically, the song satirizes social

fad A fad or trend is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short period. Fads are objects or behaviors that achieve short- ...

s and popular

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

, in particular that of the goth and

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

subcultures, likening people who adhere to such scenes as "

zombie A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...

s". In the documentary ''How About Charge!!?'' on the album's "Special One-Year Anniversary" DVD, singer

Christian Jacobs Christian Richards Jacobs (born January 11, 1972) is an American musician, television producer, and actor. He is perhaps most recognized as the co-creator of the award-winning Nick Jr. TV show '' Yo Gabba Gabba!'', on which he additionally serves ...

explained that the song was written as the band's reaction towards the newest trend in what he called "fashion rock",

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

that was merely a "soundtrack to the clothes that you wear". The bridge of the song parodies the bridge of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

s "

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

", repeating

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wa ...

s narration of "Darkness falls across the land/The midnight hour is close at hand/Creatures crawling in search of blood..." verbatim, though finishes with "to accessorize their black zipper hoods" in place of the original's "to terrorize your neighborhood".

Release and reception

On April 1, 2005, The Aquabats posted an update on their website where they revealed the release date, title, track listing and cover art for ''Charge!!'' along with an

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Orig ...

download of "Fashion Zombies!", describing it as one of their "favorite songs from the new record" rather than a single. On June 1, less than a week before the release of ''Charge!!'', the band offered a contest that whoever could help get the song airplay on local radio would be treated to an all-expenses paid meal with The Aquabats. The prize was claimed after a fan got "Fashion Zombies!" played on Los Angeles'

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronou ...

and was taken to a

T.G.I. Friday's TGI Fridays (operating in the UK as FRIDAYS) is an American restaurant chain focusing on primarily American cuisine and casual dining. The restaurant's founder said the name stood for "Thank God It's Friday", although some television commercial ...

. After the moderate success of ''Charge!!'' and the band's extensive, well-hyped touring schedule, The Aquabats appeared as musical guests on the September 23, 2005 episode of the G4 news and variety program ''

Attack of the Show! ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally aired from 2005 until 2013 ...

'' where they performed "Fashion Zombies!" and "Nerd Alert!". Along with ''Charge!!'' as a whole, "Fashion Zombies!" received a very positive response from critics, with most praising the band's effective shift in style and the song's clever lyricism.

AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to fe ...

complimented the song's "catchy keyboard harmonies", writing "'Fashion Zombies!' alone confirms that the Bats are progressing in their own unique way, regardless of what's going on in the rest of the music industry".

Music video

A music video for "Fashion Zombies!" was directed by singer

and Justin Lyon and shot in Los Angeles over the course of two nights during the first week of June 2005. The video was released on The Aquabats' website on July 12, 2005, later receiving an official home media release on the ''Charge!!'' "Special One-Year Anniversary Edition" CD/DVD on June 10, 2006. The first half of the video depicts four groups of varying subcultures - specifically, what appear to be goths,

New Romantics The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...

preppies Preppy (also spelled preppie) or prep (all abbreviations of the word ''preparatory'') is a subculture in the United States associated with the alumni of old private Northeastern college preparatory schools. The terms are used to denote a pers ...

and hipsters - as they square off in a dark alleyway and start fighting each other, intercut with footage of The Aquabats performing the song on a

soundstage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...

. In the

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

for the music video featured on the DVD of the ''Charge!!'' "Special One-Year Anniversary Edition", Jacobs explained that these parts of the video were inspired by the 1979 film '' The Warriors'' and Michael Jackson's video for "

Beat It "Beat It" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller'' (1982). It was written by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jones encouraged Jackson to include a rock song on the album. Jackson l ...

"."Fashion Zombies!" audio commentary, ''Charge!!'' Special One-Year Anniversary Edition DVD The second half of the video parodies

films such as ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven p ...

'', as The Aquabats arrive at the brawl to settle things down, only to be chased into a foggy forest by all of the "fashion zombies", whose eyes are now glowing pink. The band is cornered into a dilapidated shack where they try to fight back with their instruments, but at the end of the video are ultimately overpowered and given fashionable makeovers, turning into zombies themselves. Within the canon of the band, the "Fashion Zombies!" music video is notable as the only official Aquabats media to feature guitarist Popeye (Michael Vogelsang), who toured with the band as an additional guitarist in the summer of 2005 though was ultimately never promoted to full-time member status or appeared on any recorded material.

Credits

The Aquabats

* The MC Bat Commander - vocals * Crash McLarson - bass, vocals *

Chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, Log bucking, bucki ...

- guitar *

Jimmy the Robot Randall James Briggs, Jr. (born February 27, 1978), credited professionally as James R. Briggs, Jr., is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist for the California rock band The Aquabats, of which he has been a member since 1996 under t ...

- keyboards, vocals *

Ricky Fitness Richard Timothy "Ricky" Falomir is an American musician and composer, perhaps best recognized as the current drummer for the Orange County rock band The Aquabats, in which he performs under the stage name and persona of Ricky Fitness. Biograph ...

- drums

References

{{authority control 2005 singles 2005 songs The Aquabats songs