Is 3Oh!3 self-aware? They’re obviously terrible, but do they know they’re terrible? Are they being terrible intentionally? I mean, they are so blatantly awful you wonder if it’s all some meta-joke. Like, “Look at what drivel we can get on the charts. We’re not even pretending to try! Come on, America.”

3Oh!3 covers bring out the true crappiness of the songs (Exhibits A and B). They push the, ahem, “lyrics” to the fore. If Weird Al ever parodies 3Oh!3, he should stick with the original words. Maybe an all-3Oh!3 polka (though his current one is pretty good). Anyway, here’s Exhibit C. New wave piano chanteuse Marina and the Diamonds covered 3Oh!3’s “Starstrukk” – which there is no reason to spell like that – as a slow keys-and-bass torch song for Billboard’s “Mashup Mondays” series. Her ridiculous outfit (pictured above) indicates she’s in on the joke. Whatever the joke is. Continue reading »