It's time to Blow Things Up

Andrew WK completely tore off my face the first time his song ‘It's Time to Party’ blasted through my bungalow speakers. They were Sony, solid, mounted sturdily on wood blocks attached to opposing walls and, apparently, if you turned the volume knob up too loud during this particular song, it was inevitable that WK’s 120+ multi-layered guitar tracks were going to evict and plummet them with force into nearby furniture or the crown of someone’s head, as happened to my mate Tockley late one night.

I’d thrashed that stereo to within an inch of its life in years preceding the advent of WK. Nothing had proven so powerful and mighty as to completely banish the adjoining speakers to the ground without fail, each and every time. It was a show of unprecedented force and admirable dynamism.

Since then, I’ve had a soft spot and respect for Andrew WK.

Many critics laud him an imbecile, party boy, purveyor of mindless, primal drivel marketable to drunken frat boys, rat bogans, degenerates and the like. It’s true that most of WK’s notable repertoire is dense, four on the floor pop-metal, sonically enhanced to sound bigger than Ben Hur’s bucks party and induce bouts of headbanging, heart palpitatingly brainless ecstacy. His live gig at Melbourne’s Hi-Fi bar back in 2002 was one of the greatest things I’d ever endured, the collusion of arena-strength strobe lighting in a 900 person venue searing retinas as well as my aorta.

In 2003, WK broke his foot on tour. He continued to rock the remainder of his dates in a wheelchair. This clip is testament to how awesome WK really is.



There is more to WK that the average pundit might recognise behind the brusque, Neanderthal reputation.

Since the heady, indulgent and intelligent days of ‘Party Hard’, ‘Party til you Puke’ and ‘It’s time to Party’, WK has branched out from his musical proclivity, transforming himself into a self-help, new age motivational speaker, New York club mogul and cable television personality.

Cartoon Network recently unveiled ‘Destroy, Build, Destroy’, hosted by WK, featuring high powered explosives, rocket launchers, and other dangerous weapons. WK chaperones two teams of kids who oversee the destruction of large things, whereby they gather the rubble and transform the refuse into something new and efficient.

Any excuse to blow up trucks and run over inanimate objects with tanks is a good thing in my book. And if WKs success in nailing my speakers is anything to go by, I have no doubt this show will be an absolute blast.