Nerf Herder
How to Meet Girls
(Honest Don’s)

     In a world desperately searching for a rubber plug of truth to fill the hole between the tepid tub of derivative hardcore bands and the dripping drainage pipes of hormone-fed sixteen year-old pseudo-divas, Nerf Herder comes riding out of Haley Street with How to Meet Girls, the glorious follow-up to their 1997 eponymous debut.
    Blending together eleven tales of rejection, dejection and, um, erection, How to Meet Girls will more than meet the expectations of anyone who remembers their bittersweet paean to Van Halen titled, appropriately enough, "Van Halen."  This time around, the fellows have added synthesizers, an organ, and even an accordion to their growling guitars to round out the sound and keep the Nerf fresh.
     Lyrically, Parry & Co. are stronger than ever.  Unabashedly honest and gurgling with wit, Nerf Herder writes about what they know best:  pining for unreachable girls and getting laughed at.  Songs of self-loathing like "Lamer Than Lame," the dirgeful ditty "5000 Ways to Die," and the concupiscent confessions of "Pervert" are indicative the kinds of disenchanted dissertations that characterize the album.
     Plus, the guys are even more obsessed with ‘80s junk culture than before, and refer to enough movies, bands, people, songs, TV shows, and institutions to give Kevin Smith shell shock.  From the A-Team to the X-Files, nothing is sacred.
     How to Meet Girls is intelligent, catchy, and scientifically engineered to be liked by girlfriends; could this be the first great rock and/or roll record of the burgeoning 21st Century?  The hooks heedless, the melodies mellifluous, the vocals vociferous... you bet it is!
     Hating yourself has never been this much fun.

By Casey Lombardo
Long Beach Union

Originally printed 2.28.00

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