Look What I Almost Stepped In...

Infobox Album |
Name = Look What I Almost Stepped In...
Type = Album
Artist = The Vandals


Released = August 29, 2000
Recorded =
Genre = Punk rock
Length = 38:30
Label = Nitro
Producer = Warren Fitzgerald
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5qd7gjur26ib link] |
Last album = "Hitler Bad, Vandals Good"
(1998)
This album = "Look What I Almost Stepped In..."
(2000)
Next album = "Internet Dating Superstuds"
(2002)

"Look What I Almost Stepped In..." is the eighth studio album by the southern California punk rock band The Vandals, released in 2000 by Nitro Records. It was the band's final album for Nitro, as they moved to their own label Kung Fu Records the following year. Much of the album is characterized by the pop-punk music and humorous lyrics for which the band is known.

Although regular Vandals drummer Josh Freese is credited as a band member and appears in band photos in the album's liner notes, he was unavailable to play on the album due to other musical commitments. The band therefore called on regular substitute Brooks Wackerman, who had filled in for Freese on several occasions as a touring drummer. Wackerman himself is an accomplished drummer who would join Bad Religion the following year. The album also features guest appearances by Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D, musician/actor/screenwriter Scott Aukerman, and members of the New Jersey band Bigwig.

Track listing

All songs written by Warren Fitzgerald except where indicated.

#"Behind the Music" - 2:44
#"Sorry, Mom and Dad" - 2:34
#"Go" - 2:17
#"The New You" - 2:41 (Fitzgerald/Quackenbush)
#"Flowers Are Pretty" - 3:17
#"Jackass" - 3:20 (Escalante/Dexter Holland)
#"What About Me?" - 2:20
#"You're Not the Boss of Me (Kick It)" - 3:21 (Quackenbush)
#"I'm the Boss of Me" - 2:00
#"That's My Girl" - 2:26
#"Get a Room" - 2:48
#"San Berdu" - 3:13
#"Crippled & Blind" - 2:25 (Quackenbush)
#"Fourteen" - 3:04

Performers

*Dave Quackenbush - vocals
*Warren Fitzgerald - guitar, backing vocals
*Joe Escalante - bass, backing vocals
*Brooks Wackerman - drums
*Jack Black - backing vocals on "Fourteen"
*Kyle Gass - backing vocals on "Fourteen"
*Scott Aukerman - backing vocals on "That's My Girl"
*Dexter Holland - backing vocals on "Jackass"
*Bigwig - gang vocals

Album information

*Record label: Nitro Records
*Recorded at Grand Master Studios in Hollywood, California
*Produced by Warren Fitzgerald
*Engineered by:
**Bradley Cook at Grand Master Studios in Hollywood with assistance from Anderew Alekel
**Chris Sheldon at Westlake Studios in Hollywood with assistance from Jason Rankins
**Eddy Schreyer at Oasis Mastering in Studio City, California
**John Tyree (assistant engineer) at Ocean Way in Hollywood
*Mixed by Chris Sheldon at Westlake Studios in Hollywood
*Mastered at Oasis Mastering in Studio City
*All songs copyright 2000 by Puppety Frenchman Music, SEAC
*All tracks written by Warren Fitzgerald except "The New You" by Warren Fitzgerald and Dave Quackenbush, "Crippled & Blind" and "You're Not the Boss of Me (Kick It)" by Dave Quackenbush, and "Jackass" by Joe Escalante and Dexter Holland.
*Cover art by Shag
*Art direction by Kris Martinez
*Band photo by Lisa Johnson
*Additional artwork by Mickey Stern

ong Meanings

All information listed here is derived from song lyrics, album liner notes, and band member interviews and commentary (particularly those in the Vandals DVD "Live at the House of Blues").

*"Behind the Music" (Warren Fitzgerald)A sarcastic look at the music industry from an insider's perspective. It depicts the fate of a band trying to find success in the mainstream entertainment industry. Its title is copied from the VH1 television show of the same name.

*"Sorry, Mom and Dad" (Warren Fitzgerald)This song deals with children who rebel against their parents and reminds listeners to appreciate their parents and to apologize to them for their bad behavior.

*"Go" (Warren Fitzgerald)A sarcastic anthem in which the singer calls for action, but is too lazy to follow through with it.

*"The New You" (Warren Fitzgerald & Dave Quackenbush)A man's lament about a girlfriend who suddenly changes her attitude towards him. She goes from loving and spending time with him to shunning him and wanting to be "just friends."

*"Flowers Are Pretty" (Warren Fitzgerald)A nihilistic song that suggests that everything good will eventually go bad.

*"Jackass" (Joe Escalante & Dexter Holland)A reversal of the common "on the road" rock & roll theme in which a male musician on tour misses his love interest at home. In this version it is the girlfriend who is in the touring band and the man who is frustrated by the fact that she is always on the road and inaccessible to him.

*"What About Me?" (Warren Fitzgerald)A frustrated post-breakup song in which the jilted boyfriend imagines forcing his girlfriend to apologize and reunite with him.

*"You're Not the Boss of Me (Kick It)" (Dave Quackenbush)A love song in which the girl feels like the boy is smothering her, but he claims he just wants to "kick it" with her.

*"I'm the Boss of Me" (Warren Fitzgerald)A fast and rebellious song.

*"That's My Girl" (Warren Fitzgerald)This song is about a man whose girlfriend continually drinks too much at parties and makes an unfortunate spectacle of herself, forcing the boyfriend to extradite her from the party and take her home in a sloppy, drunken state.

*"Get a Room" (Warren Fitzgerald)declares the singer's frustration with couples who engage in public displays of affection.

*"San Berdu" (Warren Fitzgerald)A love song told from the point of view of a protagonist whose drug laboratory burned down, resulting in his arrest and subsequent jail time and community service. He believes his love interest to be better than previous ones since she stood by him throughout this ordeal, and invites her to move to San Berdu with him.

*"Crippled & Blind" (Dave Quackenbush)This song deals with the frustrations felt by a person who has been continually downtrodden and treated unfairly.

*"Fourteen" (Warren Fitzgerald)A love song detailing the frustrations felt by a man who is infatuated with a 14-year old girl. He is unable to express his love because of her young age and longs for the day when she will turn 18 (the legal age of consent in some parts of the US).