George Gadd Redoes Blink-182′s “Dammit”

May’s a big month for high school and college students across the country, many of whom are graduating and moving on to bigger and better things. And what better way is there to celebrate (or maybe mourn?) than with a cover of the classic ’90s throwback, “Dammit”? Released by punk rock gods, Blink-182, way back in 1997, “Dammit” was the band’s first breakout hit and today remains a kick-ass anthem about one trouble of growing up: breaking up. Continue reading »

On Monday night California indie-pop band Best Coast brought their energetic live show to Coalition in Brighton, England and treated the crowd to a raucous version of Blink-182’s pop-punk hit “Dammit.” Opening-act Spectrals joined Bethany Cosentino and co. for the fun, igniting a mini-riot of stage dancers and crowd surfers. After the show Cosentino tweeted about the spontaneous cover “yes we butchered it, but it was SO fun.” Continue reading »

Song of the Day posts one cool cover every morning. Catch up on past installments here.

Who can honestly say they don’t like Blink-182? Okay, fine, there’s one. Wait, two. Alright, slow down now, one at a — oh forget it.

Whether or not you think the biggest pop-punk trio since Green Day actually “added anything” to music or “contributed” to popular culture or “didn’t totally suck,” they sure were ubiquitous for a while. Anyone who was a certain age in 1999 still has “All the Small Things” on repeat somewhere in the depths of their brain. Might as well embrace it, ’cause you damn sure won’t get rid of it.

Today we jump back a bit though, to 1997’s Dude Ranch. Penned by bassist Mark Hoppus, “Waggy” packs a surprising emotional punch. Sure, it includes a masturbation joke – let’s not forget who we’re talking about here – but it still comes off heartfelt. Particularly when you hear this version.

The original was all power chords and angsty-boy whining, but the harmonies and steel guitar of Scottish duo Whiteshaw make it a purty country weeper. Hard to imagine a more dramatic transformation (well, maybe Slipknot going jazz). Also worth hearing: Whiteshaw’s super-stripped down demo version. Continue reading »