25 Albums. #13: Death By Television by The Lillingtons

The Lillingtons play a brand of pop punk music that sounds exactly like the Ramones. Their first album was nice and catchy, but overall it wasn't anything all that special. Then a few years later they released their second album and created the best pop punk album ever, Death by Television. Even Fat Mike says so.

True story.

You know how metal bands use a lot of imagery from that's very heavily inspired by works of fantasy? (from what I know, this mostly pertains to the power metal genre) You know, Nordic Gods, elves, giants, legendary beasts and whatnot are always plastered over their album covers and I always liked the artwork but I never cared much for the themes because I've always been more drawn to sci fi. Nothing against Lord of the Rings or Dungeons and Dragons, but I just naturally go for things more like Star Wars or Stargate. Anyhow, I bring this up because I always wished I had known more bands that did a sci-fi/comic theme, but not in a campy way like the Aquabats.

The Lillingtons totally write songs inspired by 1950's science fiction B-films. Aliens, robots, x-ray vision, Communist spies... all themes touched upon by the band. If there was anyway to improve upon the three chord formula that the Ramones used, then the Lillingtons did it on Death By Television. Seriously, go listen to "I Saw the Apeman (On the Moon)" and you'll realize how much better Blitzkrieg Bop would have been if it had been sci-fi themed. And if you don't think the song is very good, there's no need to worry since that might be the weakest song on the album and there are thirteen more to choose from.