Man, I really love punk music. I know some Music Nazi somewhere is probably standing up right now, wagging their finger at me, shouting "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT REAL PUNK IS!", but I don't really mind because I am happy with what my reality of punk is. I know punk has developed into many sub genres over its many years of existence, such as hardcore punk, emo, post-punk, new wave and pop punk, but to be honest, I can't really be bothered to categorise any of the bands I like, so I just call them Punk.
Want to know what I find funny/awesome? Grown men doing bad-ass punk covers of songs that little girls like! The Fearless Records 'Punk Goes...' series of compilations was good for this sort of thing until they seriously went A.W.O.L. with the bands they chose and nowadays it is just 'Metalcore Goes...'.So here is my list of some of my favourite punk covers out of the many that I have heard:
1. The Bates - Japanese Girl:Defunct German punk band The Bates covered Aneka's politically incorrect (well, not really) one hit wonder 'Japanese Boy', and they did it really well. The original was your typical 80's pop song, but The Bates covered it and added their own gritty punk style. What was also cool is that they changed the lyrics slightly so instead of the song being about being left heart broken by a Japanese Boy, it was now about being left in the exact same situation but instead by a Japanese Girl. So if you were a dude who was a bit embarrassed to be caught singing along to the Aneka version, there was now a version just for you.
2. Dynamite Boy - I Want It That Way:Do you remember the times when pop groups were created by record labels and didn't write their own songs? Well if you remember that time, then you will definitely remember the Backstreet Boys and their hit song 'I Want It That Way'. Then in come soppy pop punkers Dynamite Boy to give it their own twist for the first Punk Goes Pop compilation that was released in 2002. If you just love the sound of those typically emotional pop punk vocals and the not very pop punk-y guitar solo at the end, then you might even agree with me when I say I actually prefer this version to the original.
3. Relient K - Manic Monday:Another one from the 'Punk Goes...' series. This time it is from Punk Goes 80's. You know those certain songs that you seem to know the tune to, but are not quite sure who the original artist is? Well, 'Manic Monday' was one of those for me. I had heard the Relient K version on Punk Goes 80's and I recognised the tune instantly, but when I went to investigate who the original artist was (finding out it was by all-female pop rock band The Bangles) I wasn't very impressed by the original in comparison. Relient K are a great band and this cover proves it. They even recently covered a Justin Bieber song and did it well. Good for them.
4. Home Grown - Barbie Girl:Contrary to popular belief, this hilarious cover of the Aqua classic 'Barbie Girl' is not by Zebrahead, MxPx or even Simple Plan. That's the evils of LimeWire deceiving you again. You have to trust me on this, otherwise you will get shouted at by angry people on Youtube, who get pretty butthurt about this sort of thing. Anyway, this is one of those typical songs where you can tell the band were just having a huge laugh while recording. The fact that you have a bunch of dudes singing about how they are Barbie Girls in really stupid high and low voices just adds to the hilarity.
As you can see, there is a blink-182 logo on the video, yet the title of the video reads Home Grown. This basically means the video title originally read that the song was by blink-182 but the uploader got shouted at so he/she changed it.
