The Punk Goes series has been running since the start of this century, beginning with metal and running through pop, acoustic, the 80s, the 90s, and now culminating with crunk. There have been some good renditions over the years: A.F.I.s My Michelle, Reach the Skys Sometimes, Coalesces Blue Collar Lullaby, and High the Lights Hey Jealousy come to mind. On the other hand, there have also been several atrocities: the entire Punk Goes 80s disc, Slick Shoes Candy, Maes March of the Pig, Cartels Wonderwall and many more. So what happened when punk met crunk?
First off, the crunk label of this covers album isnt exactly fitting. Sure, there is a Lil Jon song and an Outkast song. But there are also covers of Will Smith, Akon, Rihanna, The Roots, and Arrested Development. Im not a hip-hop/rap expert but even I know that Will Smith is the furthest thing from crunk - hell I think some of the bands performing the covers might be closer to crunk that Mr. Smith.
Onto the covers Set Your Goals perform an adequate rendition of Lil Jons Put Your Hood Up. Its one of the actual crunk hits tackled here. Say Anything and The Secret Handshake both follow and fall flat with their takes on ODB and Skee-Lo. Forever the Sickest Kids do their best Panic at the Disco impersonation on Smiths Men in Black. My American Heart just cant live up to Tupac and Dres classic California Love. They try but come up a bit short, though better than most here. Then a string of horrific audio atrocities is unfolded: The Maine, Emanuel, Person L, and The Devil Wears Prada. Umbrella, perhaps the most over hyped pop song ever, is decently performed by All Time Low. Bone Thugs, Dre, and Snoop see some of their biggest hits bastardized by Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Escape Frame, and Hot Rod Circuit. Lorene Drive actually turns in a decent rendition of Outkasts Hey Ya! - much to my surprise. New Found Glory wraps things up with Arrested Developments Tennessee. By no means crunk, but probably the most sincere and artistic cover of the bunch.
If my name were Fry and I had accidentally been frozen since 2000 Id seriously be shocked by this output from Fearless Records. But considering the recent signings and releases of the label, I really am not surprised theyve gone from hosting At the Drive-In and Glasseater to releasing records from Plane White Ts and wastes of plastic like this.
Brazilian act Rakta were at the forefront of the post-punk revival several years back, and continue to be one of more captivating crews working in what has become a sort ...
It’s been 16 long years since Josh Homme sent out invitations to a group of musicians to join him out in the high desert for a few days.The last time ...
Sometimes, no matter how much you like a band, they just fall off your radar. Not because of you being uninterested. Sometimes it just happens. Moloch is such a band ...
Looking for the SPB logo? You can download it in a range of styles and colours here:
Click anywhere outside this dialog to close it, or press escape.