Review: Punk Goes Pop Volume 4

Sometimes it’s easy to forget how glorious a perfectly-pitched cover version can be, and who can blame us when you have a motley crew of dead-eyed wannabes mindlessly going through the motions of pop classics on tv talent shows every week.

Luckily we have California-based Fearless Records’ regular Punk Goes Pop compilations to remind us that when done properly, a cover can bring a disposable pop song to a whole new audience.

Punk Goes Pop Volume 4 features some of this year’s biggest chart hits, given an alternative spin by up-and-coming stars from Fearless Records’ pop-punk, metalcore and post-hardcore roster. Pop princesses and r&b icons alike are given the heavy treatment, with former Radio Disney alumni Allstar Weekend taking on infamous Rihanna-batterer Chris Brown’s Yeah 3x, and Aussie pop-punkers Tonight Alive bringing a sense of fun to Mumford & Sons’ worthy folk nonsense on Little Lion Man.

Some tracks do seem to fall short of the cover record golden rule – if you can’t do something original, at least do something fun – as witnessed on Go Radio’s lifeless take on Adele’s mammoth hit Rolling in the Deep, and A Skylit Drive’s version of Love The Way You Lie, which manages to completely miss the point of the Rihanna and Eminem original.

But there are plenty of gems to make up for the few duff notes, most notably Woe, Is Me’s joyous take on Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night (TGIF), whose lyrics about knocking back shots and getting arrested are probably closer to a punk’s heart than those of Perry’s fans anyway. Special mention must also be given to Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! and Pierce The Veil for achieving the seemingly impossible and making listenable records out of Ke$ha’s We R Who We R and Bruno Mars’ Just The Way You Are respectively.

Punk Goes Pop Volume 4 is available from November 21. Download it here.