Punk Goes 90's

by

Various Artists

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Fearless records trys to make more money with their "punk goes..." compilation series. These compilations always sound good on paper, but end up short of promise. Same with this cd. First of all, maybe it should be "current indie rock goes..." since many bands I don't consider punk. Semantics aside, there are some shining stars (the biggest one being Anberlin's "Enjoy the Silence"), but many bands fail to deliver. Here's a track by track breakdown:

1)Mae - March of the Pigs (NIN): I'm a big fan of Mae, just not digging their take on the song at all 1/5

2) Plain White T's - Song 2 (Blur): Basically the same song, which isn't a bad thing. The original song rules, the new version offers nothing new so that's why its 3/5

3) Gym Class Heroes - Under the Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers): Funky, hip-hop esque reworking of the classic song. It's pretty good and remains loyal to the original (besides changing the "city of angels" to the "big rotten apple") 3/5

4) Copeland - Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden): Great song, faithful to the original, but like the PWT's song, it's too much the original to warrant a recording. Lead singer does a good job though replacing Chris Cornell's vocals. Those are big shoes to fill 3/5

5) Hit the Lights - Hey Jealousy (Gin Blossoms): Think of your typical pop/punk band doing the cover and I bet you can hear this song in your head without ever hearing it. Points for faithfulness, but still being a little different (even though very typical pop/punk) 3/5

6) Emery - All I Want (Toad the Wet Sprocket): Great reworking of the mini hit. Song is still boring after all these years though... 3/5

7) Scary Kids Scaring Kids - Losing my Religion (REM): This song is a great cover. It's faithful, yet full of rocking energy and just different enough from the original. It mixes some synth emo with screaming to deliver the first great song of the album 5/5

8) Cartel - Wonderwall (Oasis): This song is a classic for me. I don't know how anyone could not cover this song well, but it happened. I have no issues with Cartel either. I've liked some of what they've done. This just isn't a good cover. I can't put my finger on why, maybe because it tries to hard too rock out and the vocals try to sing a little off beat. Not a fan 2/5

9) The Killing Moon - You Oughtta Know (Alanis Morissette): Ha. This song rocks. Its a ska/punk cover of alanis' big hit and its great. 5/5

10) Bleeding Through - Stars (Hum): The song is a good cover, but the song itself isn't very good. The vocals seem lost in the crunchy guitar 2/5

11) Anberlin - Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode): Brilliant reworking of a cult fave. Can Anberlin cover songs or what (ie-love song)? It's good that their own material is even better. This is the best song on the album, bar none 5/5

12) Eighteen Visions - Beautiful People (Marilyn Manson): Faithful cover of the song, but no one can really be as creepy as Marilyn Manson so the song seems a little annoying at times. If you like the original, you like this. I thought the original was ok and same with this cover 3/5

13) The Starting Line - Big Time Sensuality (Bjork) - I've never heard the original, so I have nothing to compare it to. All I know is that TSL are succeeding in their drive to become more and more annoying. When these guys first came out, they were on a drive thru free compilation. I really liked those two songs. They have gotten exponentially worse and covered a song that I don't think most people like in the first place 1/5

14) So They Say - In Bloom (Nirvana): Covering Nirvana, in my opinion, is like covering the Beatles or Led Zeppelin; you just don't do it. So They Say took a big risk covering "In Bloom". The pop/punk voice, the guitar work, the drumming, it all just doesn't stand up. Sorry guys, I'm sure you did a pretty good job on it, but that's what you get for covering a cultural icon. 1/5

15) Bedlight for Blue Eyes - Jumper (Third Eye Blind): Soft, sweet reworking of the 3EB song. One question, does the lead singer want to sound like a former boy band-er at times? Decent close out to a less than decent album 3/5

I love the ideas that Fearless has of releasing a comp of small bands covering well known favorites to get their label and bands some money. I also know it's smart to put in some bigger names (TSL, Anberlin, Mae). The execution just isn't there. So what's next? Punk goes techno? Punk goes Punk? Punk goes Acoustically late eighties pop, early nineties metal? We'll see. 2.5 Stars