Punk goes…

An interesting series of albums on Emusic are the Punk goes… albums, here.  The general idea is that a punk label has got their bands to cover a thematically grouped set of songs and put these out as compilation albums, so Punk goes 80s, Punk goes Pop, Punk goes 90s, and so on.

First thing is these covers aren’t all – or even necessarily – punk sounding covers, more a general mix of 90s alternative, post-punk, hard rock, and some just in-betweens. Some of the covers are faithful to the original, some are way off. Second thing is, it might just be me that finds this idea interesting.  I remember a lot of these fondly from back in the day, so more grown-up covers are more than welcome. Last thing, ignore the off-topic negative reviewers.  There’s a few there who seem not to have realised these aren’t karaoke-type numbers. Approach these tracks for themselves, and maybe for a bit of past-good-times reminiscence, nothing more, and you might find something you like.

Punk goes 80s is probably the best album: Manic Monday, Straight Up, Everybody wants to Rule the World, and Video Killed the Radio Star are all worth a try.  Punk goes Metal is also intriguing should you remember the originals – and the original bands’ hair.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO: Jeremy Jay, electronica, Kirsten Price, extraordinarily good contemporary pop-indie-soul from a woman with an extraordinary voice, and a new Robert Waddington electronic jazz track too (the last one on Zero Gain), all of these still currently free on Amie Street.