Who doesn’t love “Weird Al” Yankovic? Seriously, it’s impossible. The Grammy award-winning comedy/parody musician has brought joy to the hearts of millions for five decades and continues to be a singular presence in music. Al has spent a decade-long hiatus from new releases, with his last being 2014’s smash hit album Mandatory Fun. Though this hasn’t stopped him from touring and working on new projects unrelated to music, such as 2022’s parody biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. However, he’s finally made a return to recording with his new single and animated music video, “Polkamania!” The track continues a long-time trend for him, as almost all of his studio albums have contained a medley of then-popular songs covered in the style of overly jaunty polka music.
Let’s face it: you should already know if this is something you’ll enjoy. “Weird Al” Yankovic is so iconic and beloved to where you’ll likely be on board before even knowing what the song is. And “Polkamania!” is as gleefully silly as “Weird Al” has ever been, showing that he’ll always stay true to goofiness and idiocy no matter what. The songs chosen to cover were big hits from the past ten years. These include: “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish, “Hello” by Adele, “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” by Lin-Manuel Miranda from Disney’s Encanto, “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee, “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran, “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars, “WAP” by Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion, “thank u, next” by Ariana Grande, and “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift. Phew!
The track is continuously jaunty and upbeat polka music, featuring Al’s signature accordion playing as well as a brass section for authenticity. It should appeal to fans of the songs covered or just fans of Yankovic in general. “Polkamania!” had its release coupled with an accompanying music video, which is completely worth watching too. It features several animators styling each part of the medley and has just enough sight gags and quirky humor to be a total delight. The animation is super dazzling, ranging broadly in style from 2D animation, CG, puppetry, stop-motion, and work I don’t even know how to describe.
All in all, this is an entirely satisfying comeback for “Weird Al” Yankovic, even if this is just a one-off single and not leading into a new album. Any amount of silliness from him is needed at any time or place, and he remains a massive icon in both the worlds of comedy and music.
