Lucy Fitzgerald 
If you’ve never heard of 64 Funnycars before, you’re about to have a very good day. The Victoria, BC band, originally active from 1987 to 1992, is back with the reissue of their debut album “Happy Go Lucky,” and the advance track “The Barbeque Party” is just about the perfect way to kick things off. The song comes in swinging with chiming guitar lines, overlapping three-part vocals, and a pace that never lets up but never feels sloppy either. It sounds like four people having the time of their lives, because honestly, they were. The band cut “Happy Go Lucky” over a single September weekend at Seattle’s Egg Studios with producer Conrad Uno, sleeping in their van and jumping in Green Lake to clean up. That barely planned, nearly live energy is all over “The Barbeque Party.”
The track lands somewhere between power pop, jangle pop, and melodic punk, with clear nods to The Replacements and Hoodoo Gurus, though 64 Funnycars always had their own thing going. Hook-filled, high-energy, and carrying a genuine sense of humor that never got in the way of the songwriting. Guitarist Eric Cottrell once described the band as “a fun jalopy more than a fine-tuned sports car,” and this track earns that description with a wide grin. Personally, this is the kind of song that makes you want to turn the volume up and bother your neighbors. It also stings a little knowing most people missed this band the first time around, because they clearly had something worth paying attention to.
If you’re not following 64 Funnycars yet, now is the right time to start. The full reissue of “Happy Go Lucky” arrives May 27 via 604 Decades, alongside the “Hogwild” EP, both remastered and back in circulation after years out of print. Add “The Barbeque Party” to your playlist and keep it there. It’s the kind of song that earns a permanent spot, the one you rediscover on shuffle months later and can’t believe you forgot about. Follow the band on your platform of choice, grab the album when it drops, and if they ever bring this back to a stage near you, clear your schedule. Their live reputation was legendary for a reason, and if this track is anything to go by, they haven’t lost a step.
Listening to songs so you don’t have to! Just kidding :D, you totally should. Music blogger by day, nurse by night
