Top 6 Cover Songs by Pussy Sounding Bands

Any cock rocking stud with a mullet can rock the house with a cover...but it takes a special breed of emo sounding twerp to make something as good as the following six reworkings. In no particular order, here are the six best cover songs done by bands whose ass you could probably kick.

Want-Lagwagon (originally by Jawbreaker)
The quintessential emo jam, with a chorus of “I want you, I want you” sung ad infinum. The original is a bit garbled due to poor recording and Jawbreaker’s lead singer sounding like he gargled glass. Lagwagon sweetens the deal a bit, and the result is sublime romantic longing.

On With The Show-Get Up Kids (originally by Motley Crue)
A cautionary tale about being bad, never good and getting murdered with a switchblade…but still having to go on with the show. Not only was this covered by the Get Up Kids, it was also covered by the even pussier MXPX on their covers album in the late 1990s. Strangely, Vince Neil’s vocals and the Get Up Kids vocals are almost the same.

Game Of Pricks-Jimmy Eat World(originally by Guided by Voices)
One of the best rock songs of the 1990s gets re-did by Jim Adkins and company. Clocking in at around two minutes, its dark lyrics are lost all in the bounce of the music.

Somebody’s Baby-Phantom Planet (originally by Jackson Browne)
Here’s the deal with covers (at least for me): I like em almost the same as the original (probably one of the reasons I think Cat Power kind of sucks). “Somebody’s Baby” is a stellar chunk of American cheese by a guy who did much better work (see his self titled disc or “Running on Empty”). The chamelions in the Planet don’t try to re-invent the wheel, and that is why this cover clicks.

Boyz In The Hood-Dynamite Hack (originally by Easy-E)
Where the fuck did these guys go? This slice of white boy prep via Compton candy is why we all bought the album. Then, after finding out these guys sounded kind of like Weezer on both downers AND speed at various points, it was love. Then, nothing else. Sure they were a novelty band, but they coulda been contenders

A Little Respect-Wheatus (originally by Erasure)
Either you hate this song or love it (if you have ever even heard it). A man with the whiniest, most nasal voice ever in pop music covers a song by one of the most gay friendly pop groups of the 80s (Erasure released an ABBA EP, for chrissakes). Personally, I love it. And so did the UK (where it hit top 5 in 2000).

Cabin Parade II: Still Cabinin'

Memorial Day 2K9 was quite the festivius. Some of the highlights:

-Playing Scruples with a bunch of 15 year olds
-Buying 9 LPs (including one autographed by Eddie Money!) for 33 cents each at the Wright County Swap Meet
-Going into a townie bar in Kimball with 200 bikers on their way to a memorial ride. THEN being told by our waitress "I'm gonna give you a minute, and hopefully you'll be ready by the time I get back" in a very unfriendly tone
-Playing lawn darts in the dark and somehow hitting a bulls eye
-Getting my head shaved

But now I am snapped back to reality with work and such. And I will probably never find an Eddie Money album for 33 cents (let alone an autographed album) ever again.

Ben Utecht...Really?

So I was browsing what was new on iTunes because I don't want to tempt my bank account with sexy CD shopping at a brick and mortar...and I came across former U of M great Ben Utecht's new self titled CD. This has got to be the most out of left field (or maybe out of left end?) CD released by a pro athlete ever. We are all accustomed to NBA player releasing discs (remember K.O.B.E I L.O.V.E U and Ron "Bitches don't give a shit about my wifey" Artest almost came to blows last night in the playoffs!) but this has got to be the first CD by a tight end ever.

The only other NFL player that pops to mind is Mike Reid, an all pro lineman with the Bengals in the 70s who wrote "I Can't Make You Love Me." And, of course, Samurai Mike, The Punky QB Known as McMahon, and Sweetness...

Clearance Rack Cavalcade 5/5/09

This time for the CRC, I think I will actually speak on a CD I purchased because I wanted to hear it...

"Stubbs The Zombie: The Soundtrack"

The great thing about the clearance rack at ANY record store is that you can find that elusive CD you were going to pick up on Amazon a few weeks prior, but just didn't because you spent too much money at the Palace or on truffle fries. Anyways, this happened to me with this soundtrack to an XBOX game I have never even heard of.

"Stubbs The Zombie" features the creme de la creme of indie music covering 50s and early 60s songs. You get Ben Kweller doing "Lollipop," The Ravonettes doing "My Boyfriends Back" and The Walkmen doing "There Goes My Baby." Very good stuff, especially Death Cab For Cutie's "Earth Angel" (the most earnest song ever sung by the most earnest group ever) and Cake covering "Strangers in the Night" (John McCrea would kill his mom to be a lounge singer and they even sang a song called "Frank Sinatra"). The only song that drags is Flaming Lips doing "If I Only Had A Brain," which feels sort of out of place. Anyways, a great little 2 dollar treasure that I would have paid at least 7 dollars for.

Verdict: 8/10