Why Is Lonely Island’s Bash Brothers Experience So Perfect?

The fall of 1988 contains my first solid, sports memories. My Dad went to Notre Dame, so their run to a national title is embedded into my mind. It began my love for sports that has not subsided for three decades.

We lived in Ridgefield, Connecticut, at the time, which meant my Dad got the New York Times and the New York Post daily. It was the latter that shaped my young impression of the era’s most irrepressible duo, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, the Bash Brothers. Even then, I knew there was something different about the Bash Brothers. Jose Canseco’s New York trips weren’t only being covered in the back pages. He was everywhere. They were larger than life. That, to first grade Sean, was superstardom.

Still, when my phone alerted me that Lonely Island had made music in 2019 dressed up as the Bash Brothers, it didn’t register with me. “I bet that’s fun,” I thought and moved on. I’m sure I’d get around to watching the video.

What I didn’t realize was Lonely Island did a lot more than make one video. To be honest, the concept didn’t thrill me because it felt almost too tailored to me. Yet it was my wife who pushed for us to watch the Netflix special. I wrongly assumed the special included one video of the Bash Brothers along with others. I asked my wife what else happened in the special.

“Can we just watch it please?” she pleaded, knowing what was ahead. We did. And I haven’t stopped playing it since. Which begs the question, “Why?”

It’s too easy to say the songs are great and catchy and that’s why I can’t stop listening. Of course, the music is a huge reason why. I like to think I listen to a lot of good music. I really like Fitz & the Tantrums latest EP, for example. That hasn’t been on an endless loop for 10 days.

So, what made Lonely Island’s Bash Brothers Experience perfect? Let’s investigate:

1)  They Went Big

If they made one song as the Bash Brothers – which I had assumed – then I wouldn’t be writing this. It would be a good song that would accumulate a ton of YouTube views and we’d move on.

Instead, they shot for the moon. As soon as we started the Netflix special and I realized the entire thing was focused exclusively on the Bash Brothers, I started laughing immediately. “Seriously?” I asked my wife, incredulously. “These guys are nuts.”

The Lonely Island guys are indeed nuts for coming up with a visual album sung in character by two baseball players from 1988. That’s the beauty of it, right? No one else could possibly have dreamed this up because it’s so stupid. But it’s stupid in a big way. There’s nothing worse than doing something half-way, especially in entertainment. Want to capture our attention? Go for it all.

2) They Didn’t Insult the Audience

While the Bash Brothers are a cultural touchstone for me, I understand that not everyone is a male in their late 30s who grew up loving baseball. I am sure the Lonely Island knew that too. Still, they didn’t dumb down anything about the Bash Brothers.

If you only know the cliff notes – they used a ton of steroids, bashed forearms, and were very popular – you know more than enough to get it. Still, even if you have never heard about McGwire or Canseco before listening, it doesn’t prevent you from getting the jokes involved.

One of the best examples is when they name-drop Kirk Gibson as a pariah. The first time we listened, I laughed out loud, while my wife said, “Who the heck is Kirk Gibson?” Not knowing Kirk Gibson doesn’t distract from enjoying the song. However, upon figuring out who Kirk Gibson is, the song becomes even better.

As someone who knew the Bash Brothers story, I was on pins and needles waiting for the Madonna reference. And it certainly does not disappoint when Jose gives his first-person description of his date with Madonna. Again, you don’t need to have any background info to make those jokes work. By not insulting the audience and dumbing it down, they appealed to everyone.

3) There’s Something for Everyone

Last week, All Elite Wrestling ran their first official show ever and one of the reasons so many people, me included, loved it was because they included so many different styles of pro wrestling. If you only watch WWE, you essentially see the same style of match over and over. AEW, by contrast, changed things up with every match. So, if the current match wasn’t for you, well maybe the next one would be.

What stands out about the Bash Brothers Experience is the wide range of songs that they produced. You can go from a song clearly inspired by the Beastie Boys into a pure sex jam in Oakland Nights. There’s a dance groove for IHOP’s Parking Lot song, followed by a slow, deep beat for Daddy, to close out the record.

4) It Never Overstays Its Welcome

Always leave them wanting more, right? Most of the songs are short, with two verses max. It’s brilliant. They get in with a good hook and funny lyrics, and immediately get out before you hear too much. For nearly every song on the album, when it ends, you want more. It reminds me of Drake’s “Hotline Bling” that ended on that catchy beat, so you instinctively wanted to hit repeat every time it ended.

If I have one criticism about comedy songs in my lifetime – and occasionally with Lonely Island – is that the songs try too hard to be a “real” song by have two or three verses. Sometimes, you only got one good one in you. Lonely Island, with possibly the exception of Oakland Nights, was not trying to write radio-friendly songs. They were making good, funny songs they enjoyed making.

5) It’s Immediately Perfect

My obsession with the Bash Brothers’ Experience began, quite literally, within the first 30 seconds. The first song starts with “Jose” and “Mark” introducing themselves. Of course, Canseco gets an epic “My name’s Jooooo-seeeee” complete with amazing graphics, while McGwire reads a simple, “and I’m Mark” without any music.

I knew right then and there that the Lonely Island got it right. My only concern now is if I’ll ever be able to stop listening. 

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