Ever since eighth grade, I have had an obsession for rock music, probably as a sort of rebellion against racial stereotypes and conservative upbringing. Needless to say, a teenage phase became a long term passion that is a part of my everyday life (I check Alternative Magazine like it’s the New York Times). I await every Punk Goes… album with completely justified anticipation that does tend to frighten my friends. For those of you who don’t know what I am referring to, the Punk Goes… series, released by Fearless Records, consists of bands predominantly from the punk rock scene covering pop music and other genres. It’s always interesting to hear a band like _______ choose to cover a song like ______. These records are actually what got me cover curious. With that being said, here are some other artists who brought some punk attitude to the pop genre.
“Lollipop” by Framing Hanley [Editor’s Choice]
In 2007, Framing Hanley released a cover of Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” on their album The Moment and released a video for the track the following year. The original song’s directly sexual lyrics and terminology provided an interesting contrast to the band’s normally dark sound exhibited like that of “Built for Sin” and “Count Me In.” The Nashville group is no stranger to writing about girls or relationships, but then again, most of their songs don’t generally talk about making “that a** jump like jerp jerp.” Despite these comedic contrasts, the band created a cover that has proved to be one of their most popular songs. Plus that southern charm doesn’t hurt their cases.
“Maps” by Our Last Night
Our Last Night, a band based out of New Hampshire covered “Maps” by Maroon 5 and posted a live studio performance on October 8, 2014. The band’s more aggressive, metallic sound allowed the original lyrics to bring out a more raw emotion in lines such as “you said you had my back.” With the complexity that the four piece brings to the song, you would never believe that Trevor Wentworth one of Our Last Night’s vocalists and the youngest member of the band was 13 at the band’s conception in 2004. The line up, including two brothers, has remained unchanged for eight years and the four guys’ musical unity is persists in all of their music including their most recent album Oak Island and the eight other covers that they have recorded in the past year.
“Grenade” by We Are The In Crowd
We Are The In Crowd released their version of “Grenade,” a chart topper originally performed by Bruno Mars through Hopeless Records in 2011. Their distinct pop punk sound makes its first appearance in the first 16 seconds of the song and continues, reaching its peak during the chorus. Vocal duties performed by Taylor Jardine and Jordan Eckes (I am a huge fan of the double vocalist dynamic, especially when the pair consist of a girl and a guy), the band often provides two perspectives in their own music sometimes agreeing and other times standing on opposing sides, giving different listeners more than one chance to relate. During “Grenade” Jardine and Eckes played off of each other using Bruno Mars’s original lyrics, and outline, as opposed to a one-sided relationship, one that seems to be toxic on both sides.
*Fearless is releasing their sixth Punk Goes Pop on November 17, 2014. Below is a link to the first song released off of the album.*
And as always, here is the link to this week’s covers! Enjoy!