Review Summary: Remember that episode when Spongebob got in a car accident and died?
Introduction
What is a "meme?" The definition of a meme is a form of comedy that goes around the internet as an inside joke. For example, we see Breaking Bad characters become more recognizable because of the wacky edits and recurring theme songs in videos across social media. Sure, we laugh at the joke and send it to everyone at first, but soon it becomes stale.
Another type of meme that is making an uproar is horror memes. Horror memes as in a caption saying "I have your home address and your newborn baby in the back of my car" with a close-up picture of Garfield staring at you. As creepy as that sounds, people love them making silly little videos and Tik-Toks at the speed of sound. But instead of a certain topic, it creates a wide variety of super out-of-pocket material that is very fun and reusable.
Taylor P., a.k.a Vappasko, is an independent musician known for his vaporwave parody albums ever since 2018. Not much is said about him, other than he really likes Vaporwave. He has nine releases, but one stands out big, scary, and pin- box-shaped!
Enter The Spongetaker's, "Everywhere At The End Of Bikini Bottom": A parody of The Caretaker's "Everywhere At The End Of Time." It's an album that takes inspiration from EATEOT and the show "Spongebob Squarepants" to make an unpredictable masterpiece. All the songs are tracks from the show slowed down, filled with dissonance and reverb, with depressing titles as the cherry on top of your Triple Gooberberry Sunrise. In a nutshell, it's the entire soundtrack if it was made by a fake depressed girl on YouTube who makes slowed and reverbed songs and slaps an anime photo on solid color backgrounds. While listening to it and looking at the song titles, they're supposed to be funny. For me, I get the references, and...that's it. There is no punchline, just grief. Like the bar joke:
A clown walks into the bar and drinks his beer in the damp loneliness. Um, yeah, that's my life bro.
It's a fan project under the sea either way and a well-made one also. However, The Spongetaker and The Caretaker's meanings of their projects are different. Everywhere At The End Of TIME is ballroom music slowed down with dissonance that reflects the stages of dementia in a series of 6 LPs. Early stages are listenable, have nostalgic titles, and have normal track lengths (2 to 3 minutes). But the final stages have more jumbled and elongated songs that symbolize the end of a person's mind. Everywhere At The End Of BIKINI BOTTOM is one album that remains the same throughout (except for the 19-minute song). The meaning also might not be forgetting memories but remembering them in happiness and sadness when the end is near. So how do I know? Well, I don't, it's a theory. The meaning isn't direct, which leads many to make up whatever message they think is the right one. Here's what I think:
Theory
For me, it mostly reflects on the Stuck In The Wringer episode. When Spongebob was drying himself off after a shower, he slipped on a bar of soap and unfortunately got himself stuck. Patrick, an important character, comes in to help him by using glue to "free him". As expected, he is still stuck. The episode continues with Square pants struggling to live a perfect day, only with the limited use of his arms. It doesn't become easy on him, as he is forced to quit the Krusty Krab until the wringer was off.
Patrick tries to cheer him up by inviting him to the amusement park. However, it gets worse. Spongebob tries to survive the many obstacles like the swirling teacups that require hands to hold on. It isn't long before he is whipped out of the teacup by Patrick and crashes into a damaging fall. It cuts to Square pants having a black eye and a sad description on his face. As Patrick comes to the shot, he attempts to give his friend ice cream, but is rejected and is knocked out of his hand by his wringer. He has felt nothing but hatred in this trap (The Time Wasted In That Cursed Trap). Spongebob snaps at Patrick and hurts his feelings. He cries and runs in the distance (My Past Friend Who Has Given Up On Me). The town's fish are enraged by his actions and tells him that his wringer is getting in the way of his heart (My Heart Rips Another Time).
At this moment, Spongebob is in his house, alone, with the TV on. His mind is in a broken and depressed state and is not exactly in the right place (Mind Washing Away Slowly Like Sand). He tries to be happy, but sadness overtakes that feeling. He missed the days he was free and could take on anything (Dancing Is Sadly An Activity Of The Past). When Patrick breaks into his house, he notices the TV is on but is playing the constant image and sound of static. It could be that the sound was drowning out the outside world, and Spongebob daydreams of his memories (That Dance With Her Was So Long Ago). Patrick, in a panic, tries snapping him out of it. He feels that he was the one who ruined his friend's life, and cries on the glue (Bitter Liquid, Release My Pain). The glue wears off and releases Spongebob from the wringer.
As expected, it has a happy ending and the show ends. But what if Patrick didn't save Spongebob? What would have happened if he was depressed forever? Would he be able to feed himself or Gary? My theory is arguable, but that episode seems so fitting with the scene and how it plays out.
Final Thoughts
My final statement is that I love the album. It creates an odd and unnerving atmosphere in a subnautical world, not lacking variation in the selection or song production. I loved listening to the tracks and trying to figure out what the songs were (My Heart Rips Another Time = Outro theme). It's an empowering vision of the lost feeling of nostalgia and the hidden depression of Spongebob. Well, the last part, maybe. Would I consider it a meme? Probably. Should you listen to it? Sure, go ahead. Is it better than XSpongeXCoreX? HELL NO!!!
Final score: 4.4/5
Favorite songs:
I Can Still Remember Jellyfish Fields
Remember Browsing The Aisles
Art By My Neighbor
Shoutout to Listencorp for the cool video of the album
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arL8XLSv938
