Psychedelic Porn Crumpets Reinvent the Jungle Book’s “I Wanna Be Like You”

“I Wanna Be Like You” (aka “The Monkey Song”) is one of the two most famous songs from Disney’s The Jungle Book. It’s a song many of us grew up with and, on a personal note, it was probably my first exposure to anything vaguely resembling jazz. The Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are an Australian rock band who have put out three albums since 2016. They are not the first band you would think of to cover a jazzy Disney cartoon song, but they have indeed done so for Australia’s iconic Triple J radio network.

Inspired by, of all things, the Jonas Brothers’ 2012 pop-punk version, the Crumpets lean pretty far away from the faux-Dixieland vibe of the original. They open with twin lead guitars playing an interpretation of the melody and they staccato the beat. When lead singer Jack McEwan gets to the chorus, he plays with the melody enough to mess with our childhood memories. There’s no scatting, as you might expect, but instead noisy indie rock-esque soloing that is a long way from the song’s origins.

It’s authentic “rock” take on a song that, in its original version, sounds like a jazz song from another time. Check it out below.