In February, we reported that The Monkees had announced a new album featuring a combination of original Monkees tracks and new songs written by artists like Rivers Cuomo, Ben Gibbard, and Noel Gallagher. The album, Good Times, is designed to be a celebration of the band’s 50th anniversary, with the guest writers representing the influence that The Monkees (and other ‘60s rock bands) had on modern alternative rock. Good Times will be available in stores on May 27, but The Monkees have just released the first song from the album as a preview of all the—ahem—good times you’ll have while reminiscing about how much you loved The Monkees.
The song is the Cuomo-written “She Makes Me Laugh,” and though nobody’s going to spend very long unpacking the lyrics (it’s about a girl who makes a guy laugh), it’s definitely the kind of poppy jam that The Monkees—and Cuomo—excel at.