One Fierce Beer Coaster is the second studio album by American band Bloodhound Gang, released on December 3, 1996. Produced by Jimmy Pop, it was the band's first release on Geffen Records, and the first to feature "Evil" Jared Hasselhoff on bass guitar, and DJ Q-Ball on the turntables. The music of One Fierce Beer Coaster encompasses a number of genres and its lyrics are rife with toilet humor.
One Fierce Beer Coaster was initially released by the independent label Republic Records before being re-released by Geffen Records due to underground popularity. The album has received mixed to moderately favorable reviews. Three singles were released from the album including "Fire Water Burn", "I Wish I Was Queer So I Could Get Chicks" and "Why's Everybody Always Pickin' on Me?" The first single, "Fire Water Burn", was a modern rock hit, landing on nine national charts.
Background and development
The Bloodhound Gang began as a small alternative band from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The band took its name from "The Bloodhound Gang", a segment on the 1980s PBS kids' show 3-2-1 Contact that featured three young detectives solving mysteries and fighting crime. The band comprised Jimmy Pop, Daddy Long Legs, M.S.G., Lupus Thunder, and Skip O'Pot2Mus. In April 1994, the band released their second demo tape, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Hitler's Handicapped Helpers (1994). This earned the band a record deal with Cheese Factory Records, which was later renamed Republic Records. Later that year, the Bloodhound Gang released their first EP, Dingleberry Haze (1994).
In March 1995 the group signed to Columbia Records and released their first full-length album, titled Use Your Fingers (1995), but were subsequently dropped by the label. At this time Daddy Long Legs and M.S.G., who were angry with Columbia Records, left the band to form another rap group, Wolfpac. Bass player Evil Jared Hasselhoff, drummer Spanky G and turntablist D.J. Q-Ball joined Bloodhound Gang as replacements. In addition, Skip O'Pot2Mus eventually left to pursue a career outside of the music industry.
Music
The Bloodhound Gang entered Dome Sound/Ultra Psyche Studios with engineer Rich Gavalis in March 1996 to record One Fierce Beer Coaster. All of the songs were produced by Jimmy Pop, who also mixed most of the musical tracks on his personal Macintosh. The album was later mastered by Joe Palmaccio at Sterling Sound Studios in New York City.
Style
While the album's predecessor, Use Your Fingers, was written and recorded in a more hip hop-oriented style, featuring distinct rap beats, One Fierce Beer Coaster featured a more alternative-oriented sound. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described The Bloodhound Gang's sound as, "smarmy, smirky alternative funk-metal, complete with junk culture references and "ironic" musical allusions." Former Bloodhound Gang guitarist Lupus Thunder credits Weezer as an inspiration for "Fire Water Burn" and Lemonade and Brownies-era Sugar Ray for "Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny."
To create the hip-hop and rock fusions on the album, Jimmy Pop utilized the standard hip hop technique of sampling. The chorus for "Fire Water Burn" is taken from "The Roof Is on Fire" by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three and also features the lyrics 'I am white like Frank Black is / So if man is five and the devil is six then that must make me seven / This honkey's gone to heaven,' a direct reference to the post-1993 stage name of Black Francis who wrote the Pixies song "Monkey Gone to Heaven" to which the lyrics allude. "Why's Everybody Always Pickin' on Me?" is built around a re-recorded sample of "Spooky", by Mike Sharpe as performed by Classics IV and also features a small lift from the Bill Cosby track "Greasy Kid Stuff." Finally, the track "Your Only Friends Are Make Believe" features a chorus melody lifted from the Duran Duran song "Hungry Like the Wolf." "Lift Your Head Up High (And Blow Your Brains Out)" is built around a sample from "Get Up and Boogie" by the Silver Convention.