By Zach Collier
If you love arachnids, math, local music, and Emmy Award-winning ska bands, boy do we have news for you. The Aquabats! released their seventh studio album, Finally!, on June 21, 2024. The record features a song entitled “Spider Love!” that takes a deep dive into The MC Bat Commander’s deep-seated arachnophobia.
Featuring a groovy synthpop beat driven by fuzzy bass and tight drums, “Spider Love!” is goofy and surreal. As the comically bizarre and rapid-fire chorus explains: “Eight legs is plenty but 16 is too many. And if they lay 1,000 eggs, then that’s 1,000 babies, and their 1,000 babies will have 8,000 legs, and that’s 7,992 more legs than I can ever see myself being comfortable with.”
Sharp-eared Provo music fans may recognize the off-kilter humor and flow. When you take a look at the album credits, you’ll see the song was written by Aquabats Christian Jacobs and Matt Gorney, as well as Chance Clift and Scott Knopf. The latter two are Chance Lewis and Rhyme Time (aka Atheist) respectively. Known for their work in the Utah hip hop collective House of Lewis, they had a brief stint on America’s Got Talent in addition to their many Rooftop Concert Series and Twilight Concert Series appearances in Utah over the years.
Rhyme Time (formerly Atheist) has collaborated with JTM, Robert Loud, Mimi Knowles, Zion I, Mega Ran, and many more. He’s also a frequent competitor at Mic Masters Alliance, Utah’s premier rap battle league. We loved his album Gnarly and covered it back in 2016.
Chance Lewis has produced countless pop and hip hop tracks over the years with the likes of Dessa, JTM, Yahosh, and more. He used to run sound at Velour for years and fronted a pop/punk group called Abby Normal back in the day. Interestingly, he’s also done extensive work on the Apple TV+ revival of Yo Gabba Gabba! Entitled Yo Gabba Gabbaland!, it consists of 10 new episodes and premieres on August 9, 2024. Christian Jacobs (the MC Bat Commander himself) is one of the co-creators of the Yo Gabba Gabba! franchise.
“I only heard the full song for the first time a couple months ago and it was such a trip seeing this song idea go from beginning to end,” Chance Lewis told me. “I loved hearing what the band did with it. I made this kinda synthpop beat in 2016 not knowing what I’d use it for. Fast forward to 2021 and Scott [Knopf] wrote the lyrics to ‘Spider Love!’ over that beat. We submitted it to The Aquabats! and weren’t sure if anything would ever come of it. Then earlier this year we found out it would be on their new album!”
Chance explained that Christian Jacobs (the MC Bat Commander himself) and Matt Gorney brought a lot of fresh ideas to the table with the final arrangement, ensuring that the whole thing felt like a true Aquabats! song. It definitely does. It’s h*ckin zany, man. It’s like it was made for the MC Bat Commander. You can tell that he feels the existential spider-fear in his bones.
Aside from the Provo/House of Lewis connections, Finally! is notable for the return of Aquabats! members Catboy and Chainsaw The Prince Of Karate, as well as the introduction of Gorney as a new member.
Make sure to follow Chance Lewis on Instagram, as well as Rhyme Time and The Aquabats! Tickets are on sale now for the July 29 Aquabats! show at The Complex in Salt Lake City. You can stream “Spider Love!” below.