Album: Punk Goes Pop Vol. 3
Label: Fearless
Release Date: Nov. 2
Grade: D
The Punk Goes… series has earned itself a reputation for putting out original and mostly well-received cover compilation albums. With the latest release, Punk Goes Pop Vol. 3, however, listeners may want to just stick with the originals.
The album starts things off on a rather unimpressive and mediocre note with Breathe Carolina's cover of Jay Sean's "Down." With the exception of a failed attempt at a techno-inspired breakdown, the electrorock duo is unable to take the song and make it its own.
Virtually the only difference in Breathe Carolina's version is pitch. The vocals and background beat are all done on a higher note, but apart from that, the two versions sound identical. Overall, the song sounds like it would have if Jay Sean had done it before hitting puberty.
The album then switches gears and goes on to a cover of Katy Perry's "Hot N' Cold" by Woe, is Me. The cover is a jarring mixture of heavy breakdowns, brutal vocals, and pop-punk chorus sections.
While all the style flip-flopping can seem a bit unbalanced, it works surprising well with "Hot N' Cold" and makes it the best track on the album, especially since it features original lyrics from Woe, is Me's vocalist Tyler Carter:
"You change your mind/ like a psycho b**** but the sex is good so I think I'll keep you around."
If the album had ended there, it might have actually been considered decent. But unfortunately for the bands' reputations (and the listeners' ears), it doesn't.
From then on, Punk Goes Pop Vol. 3 spirals steadily downward toward self-destruction. Track after track, listeners are dragged through the waist-deep muck of poorly constructed music.
Ranging from Artist vs. Poet's cover of "Bad Romance" to This Century's butchered rendition of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," Punk Goes Pop Vol. 3 murders the concept of music and spits on its shallow grave.
Amidst the slew of feces that is Punk Goes Pop Vol. 3, there is, in fact, one golden nugget to be found.
Sparks The Rescue takes Lady Antebellum's "I Need You" and actually puts an original spin on it in lieu of regurgitating the original, like so many other artists on the album did. This, however, isn't enough to save the album from being a total disaster.
Punk Goes Pop Vol. 3 isn't just an album to avoid, it's an album to run from at breakneck speeds. If there was ever a time to lay the Punk Goes… series to rest, this is it.
