Mar 012021
 

They Say It’s Your Birthday  celebrates an artist’s special day with covers of his or her songs. Let someone else do the work for a while. Happy birthday!

Kesha covers

Kesha turns 34 today, and she’s certainly been through a lot both personally and professionally since her first big break on Flo Rida’s “Right Round” in 2009. A series of legal battles have been ongoing since 2014, but let’s turn to happier things today. In 2014, Kesha also replaced the $ from her name, marking the end of the Animal/Warrior era and ushering in the new sound of Rainbow and High Road.

Beyond being a performer, she is also a prolific songwriter. She has at least co-writing credits on all of the songs on her first two albums and even some other hits from other artists, like Britney Spears’s “Till the World Ends” and The Veronicas’ “This Love”. Kesha has also been involved in animal rights and LGBTQ+ activism and even makes an appearance in Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” music video, who knew?

Today we throwback to and celebrate the “good old days,” when we could at least pretend like we’d be up for club-going on a Friday night. Since I unabashedly agree with this defense of “punk goes…” covers, why not mix guilty pleasures: Kesha’s party anthems plus pop-punk (with a dash of screamo… as a treat).

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Apr 222011
 

There’s no denying that it can be a nice change to hear some fast-paced classic punk rock brought down to an acoustic murmur – it’s essentially what Green Day did to their entire career with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” That one worked out alright for them though; it’s only played at every graduation from anywhere ever.

UK rockers Sharks have done a stellar job slowing down the Ramones‘ “Life’s a Gas,” in honor of the tenth anniversary of Joey Ramone’s death. While the slowdown doesn’t quite match the optimism of the lyrics, it hits a nice pitch of melancholy in remembrance. The life’s a gas chant at the end sounds like a reassurance that doesn’t fit with the words being said; there’s none of the rollicking Ramones attitude on display here. That being said, it’s a nice cover of a great song; just don’t think about it too much. Continue reading »