For the past few months pop radio have been dominated by a handful of previously unknown acts who have used super-catchy breakout singles to displace superstars like Nicki Minaj and Flo Rida at the top of the charts. With their own massive single “We Are Young” sitting at number four on the Billboard chart, New York Indie-Pop outfit and punctuation mavericks fun. played an off-the-cuff cover of the ubiquitous “Call Me Maybe,” Carly Rae Jepsen‘s current number two single, on Giel Beelen’s radio show in Amsterdam. All it needed was a Gotye guest appearance to make this the perfect storm of Top 40 earworms.
“Call Me Maybe” draws its appeal from its simple, uncluttered accompaniment and endearing lyrics, and these qualities also make it a pretty straightforward song to cover. With just an acoustic guitar, keyboard and a few print-outs of the lyrics, fun. capture all the key aspects of the song while leaving themselves a bit of room to incorporate their own sound. Singer Nate Ruess’ vocals really shine, as especially in the chorus he really commits to the song, which makes the whole thing feel sincere and free of irony. Try your best to contain any teenage-girl squeals as you watch the performance below.
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