We are your average ordinary, superhuman
Punishers of evil rock and roll band
— The Aquabats!, "Awesome Forces!"
The Aquabats! (and yes,
the exclamation mark is necessary) are a third-wave
Ska band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. Their lineup has changed significantly over the years, but the two constants have been the MC Bat Commander as vocalist and
Face of the Band and Crash McLarson on bass; Jimmy the Robot (joined in 1997) is also a fixture.
The most distinctive (and
Troperiffic) aspect of The Aquabats! is their superhero mythos. They bill themselves as a group of superhero musicians, fighting evil and rocking out in equal proportion. Each member of the band takes on
superhero persona (Christian Jacobs, for example, is better known by his moniker of the MC Bat Commander), and performances often involve choreographed combat against costumed characters. As with any good superhero group, the Aquabats have built up a
Rogues Gallery of their own.
Also notable is the fact that Christian Jacobs, the MC Bat Commander, is the co-creator and writer of the children's show
Yo Gabba Gabba.
The Aquabats! Members:- The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs) - lead vocals
- Crash McLarson (Chad Larson) - bass guitar, DJ
- Jimmy the Robot (James Briggs) - keyboards/saxophone
- Eaglebones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles) - guitar
- Ricky Fitness (Richard Falomir) - drums
Former members:- Chainsaw, the Prince of Karate (Corey Pollock) - guitar
- Catboy (Boyd Terry) - trumpet
- Ultra Kyu (Charles Grey) - guitar/synth
- The Baron von Tito (Travis Barker) - drums
- Doctor Rock (Gabe Parkin) - drums
- Nacho (Chad Parkin) - keyboards
- Prince Adam (Adam Deibert) - trumpet/synth/guitar
- Ben the Brain (Ben Bergeson) - guitar
- Roddy B. (Rod Arellano) - drums
Discography:- 1996 - The Return of the Aquabats
- 1997 - The Fury of the Aquabats
- 1999 - The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!
- 2005 - Charge!!
- 2011 - Hi-Five Soup!
Tropes
- Animated Adaptation: As part of The Aquabats! Super Show!, featyuring standalone shorts featuring their mascots and episodic shorts with the Aquabats animated like out of an oldschool anime.
- Ascended Extra: One of the monsters in their earlier videos shows up later as Muno in Yo Gabba Gabba, albeit bumpier.
- Badass Boast In the song "Look at me, I'm a Winner!" Directed towards the Listener.
Four radios blastin' classic rock
And they're pointing at you
With your fist raised high
and a hitch in your step
You've got it all
I've got no reason to lie
- Crossover: Strong Bad and Homestar Runner both make an appearance in "Pink Pants!" Christian Jacobs and H*R co-creator Matt Chapman both work on Yo Gabba Gabba.
- Excited Show Title!: The Aquabats! are always excited. Basically all of their song and album titles (not to mention the name of the band itself) end with an exclamation point.
- Fat Best Friend: B.F.F. mixes this trope wth Big Fun and The Big Guy
- Five-Man Band
- In Medias Res: The title of their first album, as well as the first episode of their TV series that references events in the "prior episode".
- Instrument of Murder: Used to fend off attacking monsters during their live shows. On The Aquabats! Super Show, Eaglebones Falconhawk's guitar can shoot Frickin' Laser Beams.
- Keet: Much of their musical and lyrical themes invoke this trope.
- Mascot: Pablo the Aquabat, who even gets his own solo cartoons on the Supershow! Despite being non-vocal, he's a Badass Adorable little guy who does stuff like kicking sharks in the face and using their heads as surfboards after they break his original one.
- Musical Assassin: Former member the Baron von Tito, the mysterious drumming mercenary.
- The Power of Rock: One of the band's powers, naturally.
- Ridiculously Human Robot: Jimmy the Robot. His Deadpan Snarker tendencies are considered a noteworthy breakthrough achievement in robotic technology.
- Self-Titled Album: The Return of the Aquabats (which was actually their first album), The Fury of the Aquabats!, and The Aquabats! vs the Floating Eye of Death
- Shout Out: Eaglebones Falconhawk's evil brother looks somewhat like a bird version of X-Men villain Sabretooth.
- Silly Love Songs: Emphasis on the silly. The most blatant examples is probably "Lovers of Loving Love".
- Spoken Word In Music: Used a few times, notably in "Captain Hampton and the Midget Pirates!", which contains monologues regarding the eponymous group during breaks in the music.
- Stage Name: As mentioned, each member of the band adopts a superhero "character" upon joining. It's part of their thing.
- Took a Level in Badass: The band seems to have done this, in song. Compare "The Aquabat March!," where apparently there aren't quite so bulletproof, and so beg any villains with guns not to shoot them, to "Awesome Forces!" where, well, check the page quote.
- Wiki Rule: Check it, homies!
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