Punk Goes... : The Ultimate Review

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I might have mentioned this before, in passing: I'm a sucker for a good cover song. Being a teenager during the heyday of music-based reality TV contests will do that to a girl, I found. The pop-punk, emo, and everything -core scene never fails at delivering in this regard, oftentimes in the form of the Punk Goes... series. Created by Fearless Records in 2000, it is a series of compilation CDs featuring various bands, both from the label and others, covering songs from various genres ranging from pop to classic rock, through crunk and metal.
This post has been lingering in the back of my hyperactive mind for years, in many different formats, and here we finally are. I have spent the past almost two months revisiting twenty (twenty!) years' worth of covers, some brilliant and some questionable, and I have come up with a list of ultimate tracks from the Punk Goes... series.
(Disclaimer: this does not include acoustic versions of the bands' original material or the Punk Goes Christmas record.)



Honorable mentions 


Don't You Forget About Me by Rufio (Punk Goes 80s)
Originally performed by Simple Minds

The soundtrack to The Breakfast Club, one of my absolute favourite films, but turned into a slightly more modern version of itself, with fewer keyboards and softer vocals. I still would walk onto a football pitch with this in the background, thinking the world is my oyster.


Smooth by Escape The Fate (Punk Goes Pop 2)
Originally performed by Santana and Rob Thomas
This cover of Smooth gives an extra boost of serotonin to a song that's already packed with it, and the guitar solos are perfectly translated. The old-school vibe of it mixed with the subtle screaming is gold. Sincerely, someone who's never listened to Escape The Fate before.


Disturbia by The Cab (Punk Goes Pop 2)
Originally performed by Rihanna

Neon pop-punk meets one of Rihanna's biggest and best hits. The overexaggerated keyboards and autotune are a fun blast from the past, and the guitar solo at the end is an amazing and unexpected touch. I don't know how I ever missed out on this considering how I loved The Cab back in the day.


When I Grow Up by Mayday Parade (Punk Goes Pop 2)
Originally performed by The Pussycat Dolls

Mayday Parade just know how to do these things. This feels as though they were born to perform songs about wanting to become superstars, have fast cars, and groupies, completely effortless. And, because it's Mayday Parade behind the wheel, When I Grow Up now has just the right amount of nostalgia and feelings. 


Rolling In The Deep by Go Radio (Punk Goes Pop 4)
Originally performed by Adele

It's like Adele's classic was tailor-made for a heavier version of itself, all electric guitars and energy that's full of both anger and desperation, but it's the wide range of vocals that gets me every time I listen to this. Jason Lancaster is one hell of an underrated singer. (Also, I'm a sucker for a sick key change.)


The best of the best



Straight Up by Halifax (Punk Goes 80s)
Originally performed by Paula Abdul

We are starting out with a complete surprise and, full disclaimer before I move any further: I love Paula Abdul. Straight Up is, well, a straight-up banger. It's one of those, you know. I just think this is good. This is fun. This is truly well done. This turns an 80s pop classic into a pop-punk jam in the most straightforward way, but it's what I wanted from it. While preparing to write this post, I found myself gravitating towards this cover and having it stuck in my head (the way I tend to do with Paula Abdul's original, might I add), and it's made its sure way onto the list of my favourites. I don't know anything about Halifax, but if their music is as efficiently catchy as their cover of Straight Up, I could be down for the ride (and I am most definitely sixty-seven years late to the party. Oh, well. Nostalgia is all the rage.)





Hold On, We're Going Home by Volumes (Punk Goes Pop 6)
Originally performed by Drake feat. Majid Jordan

Despite my deep-rooted love for metal in general, the covers I tend to gravitate towards the most, whether they are on Punk Goes... albums or not, are found on the least heavy side of the spectrum because they are usually the ones that keep the most out of the original song and that don't equate extreme heaviness with doing the job well. This is why Volumes' cover of Hold On, We're Going Home by Drake has always stayed with me, because it presents a wonderful balance of heavy elements and true pop melody. The vocals particularly strike me: I equally love the screams, mostly present in the chorus, and the cleaner voice. I am truly obsessed with the way this has been reworked.




Under The Bridge by Gym Class Heroes (Punk Goes 90s)
Originally performed by Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Going into this, I discovered a few Punk Goes... records I had never listened to or heard of, and among those, I found a hidden gem: Gym Class Heroes covering Under The Bridge by Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Punk Goes 90s is one of the lesser-known albums, and this is one of the lesser-known songs, but it was one of the most striking ones to me. Using that word makes me feel like I'm throwing it back to the mid-2000s, but it's just so groovy, and it has a soothing, jamming in your car quality to it. Since the two versions are musically quite similar, it makes you realise there might be more in common between Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Gym Class Heroes, two insanely talented and unclassifiable bands, than you might believe. I honestly just cannot get over the groove on this one. This is SO good.




Love Song by Four Year Strong (Punk Goes Pop 2)
Originally performed by Sara Bareilles.

Four Year Strong's cover of Sara Bareilles' amazing Love Song is what first introduced me to the world of Punk Goes... compilations, many, many moons ago, and it remains one of my staple songs off of them. This is worlds away from the original. It is played a lot faster, and gang vocals and heavy drums replace the light piano melody and Sara's delicate voice. I like that, in the middle of what could have been reread as a slightly bitter pop-punk anthem, like, no, I'm not gonna write you a love song, stop asking, there's still emotion, especially in the bridge. This is the kind of surprising match made in heaven I wasn't aware existed, and I'm so thrilled it does. (Also, finger-clicking!) 




Rock n Roll All Nite by The Summer Set (Punk Goes Classic Rock)
Originally performed by Kiss.

On paper, a band like The Summer Set covering a Kiss song might be an unexpected choice, but, hear me out. Yeah, The Summer Set had a hell of a lot of feelings in their lyrics, and they watched so much How I Met Your Mother their discography turned into me in music form, but they were also the epitome of fun. You have two options when you listen to them: getting up and dancing or having the biggest grin plastered on your face. Classic rock purists might kill me for this, but Rock'n'Roll All Nite is a fun song, plain and simple. The gist of it is that four men in black and white make-up and funky outfits want to rock and roll all night and party every day (don't we all?) The Summer Set's version of rock and roll all night and partying every day might include less class-A drugs and guitar smashing, but it's still a party I want to attend if I get this on loop in the playlist.




Du Hast by Motionless In White (Punk Goes 90s 2)
Originally performed by Rammstein.

I went into this one almost blind because this is one of the only two Rammstein songs I know, the lyrics are my level of German after three drinks, and this is the only knowledge I have of all things Motionless In White. I imagine Du Hast to be a tough song to cover because it isn't in English and because it is such a revered classic, definitely the biggest song in Rammstein's extensive catalogue. Keeping this in mind, I think Motionless In White have done a fantastic job with this- the vocals are SO impressive.




Umbrella by All Time Low (Punk Goes Crunk)
Originally performed by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z

Listening to Punk Goes Crunk was an experience, to say the least, and two months down the line, I still feel like I should be financially compensated for surviving it. However, in the middle of it all, it has All Time Low's solid cover of Rihanna's hit single Umbrella, which makes up for, well, maybe not everything else, but a good chunk of it. All Time Low's brand of pop-punk works great with the heartfelt original and, something like a decade later, it holds the test of time to me. It still sounds fresh, it has aged like fine wine, and it's a wonder why this has never become a staple of emo nights and the like because believe me, I would be throwing some truly awful dance moves to this on a sticky dance floor after one too many spiced rum and cokes.




Your Love by Midtown (Punk Goes 80s)
Originally performed by The Outfield

I had never listened to Punk Goes 80s before I wrote any of this, and I had no idea who originally performed Your Love despite knowing the song and loving 80s pop. Spotify had the Behind The Lyrics feature on The Outfield's version, and I discovered that the band never wanted to make complicated music, just pretty melodies people could put on in their cars, and it would make them feel good. I love how Midtown (Cobra Starship's Gabe Saporta's first band) kept that from the original. I would happily jam to this in the car I am not legally allowed to drive yet, and I would have a ball doing that. I love the extra minute of keyboard and harmonies at the end, an almost electronic part, but definitely with an 80s spirit. The original song is just plain fun, and Midtown's version is also plain fun, but with a keyboard outro and more musical instruments.




Dream On by blessthefall (Punk Goes Classic Rock)
Originally performed by Aerosmith

I struggle to come up with a complete and detailed explanation for this one. I have never listened to blessthefall beyond their version of Aerosmith's Dream On and that one time I saw them live, six and a half years ago, and I have no particular attachment to Aerosmith, nor this song. I just think it sounds absolutely fucking stunning from start to end, and every time it comes on, my brain goes: "Oh, I really like that one!" I love the vocal range throughout this entire version, from the perfectly mastered lows to the highs, which always, somehow, catch me by surprise. This is quite a simple one, actually: I think this sounds great, and it's the only reason why it's one of my favourite Punk Goes... covers.




I Knew You Were Trouble. by We Came As Romans (Punk Goes Pop 6)
Originally performed by Taylor Swift

At this point, if you know me, you know I am obsessed with Taylor Swift, but you might not know how picky I am with covers of her songs, especially if they are of the heavy persuasion. A lot of them completely fall short in my eyes, most of them, actually, and I think my favourite is We Came As Romans' version of I Knew You Were Trouble. It works because it's not disgustingly heavy for the sake of it, because the harmony between the clean vocals and the shouts is perfect, and because they have kept a tiny element that was game-changing in the way we all perceived Taylor's music at the time of release: the dubstep-like drop after the first "now I'm lying on the cold hard ground." Any song from Red originates from complicated and conflicting human emotions, and this cover fully understood the pain, the desperation, the bubbling anger (perfectly conveyed in having the line "the joke is on me" being screamed), and the remaining longing. This is brilliant.




In My Head by Mayday Parade (Punk Goes Pop 3)
Originally performed by Jason Derulo

In all honesty, I'm pretty sure I knew this was going to get to top twenty as soon as the song started and vocalist Derek Sanders imitated Jason Derulo's famous name singing, but with Mayday Parade instead. This is keeping a song's identity down to a T, and it gives the cover a little bit of absurdity that makes it stick out from the rest. Also, you know how, sometimes, you'll listen to a song and realise the lyrics you'd been singing along to the whole time were sad, but you'd completely ignored it? This is the literal opposite of that. I am completely, unironically amazed by Mayday Parade's ability to make any song sound nostalgic, almost sad, even a heavily sexual song like Jason Derulo's In My Head. It has to be the piano during the bridge and the guitar solo during the last chorus.




Glad You Came by We Came As Romans (Punk Goes Pop 5)
Originally performed by The Wanted

So. There has been a bit of We Came As Romans in here, and Glad You Came might be my favourite cover of theirs because it holds such happy memories for me. It takes me back to Download 2014 and, seven years down the line, I still think it unbelievably ballsy to perform a Wanted cover at a traditionally heavy festival, at 12pm on a Sunday morning. Overall, I believe We Came As Romans are the -core band that did Punk Goes... the best because they always went beyond throwing the whole song in the gutter just to make it heavy. They kept the essence of the song. Glad You Came is a fun song at heart, and this cover would not have worked if it hadn't remained fun. They basically took a huge pop track and made it a club anthem for scene kids, and it's exactly what needed to be done.




Closer by Seaway (Punk Goes Pop 7)
Originally performed by The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey.

So, full disclaimer: I had never heard the original version before writing this, and I had no idea it even featured Halsey. I thought the line about the blink-182 song had been modified by Seaway because I simply couldn't imagine a track this popular in the mainstream world including a pop-punk reference. I apparently live under a rock. The best thing Seaway did with Closer was giving it layers and dimension. The original, though undoubtedly having some sort of pop-punk essence considering it couldn't be further from the genre, is very linear and almost one-note from start to finish. In their cover, Seaway make this sound like it's going somewhere different and give it a build-up by slightly changing the melody and the progression of it. This is also a completely new vibe for the band, and it suits them SO well.




Chocolate by Knuckle Puck (Punk Goes Pop 5)
Originally performed by The 1975

Quite simply put, in unpoetic words, I like this a hell of a lot. This hits all the marks for me. The choruses give me one of my favourite elements about Knuckle Puck's sound, which is harmonies between both vocalists, Joe Taylor and Nick Casasanto. There is a lot of space for me (and everyone else) to appreciate how vastly talented everyone in this band is and, at many points during the song, somewhere in between my tragic white dad dance moves, I can notice how great the drums or the bass sound. But I think my favourite part of Knuckle Puck's version of Chocolate is that it gives a sense of fun to the anthem of a genre that tends to take itself a little seriously.




Heathens by Boston Manor (Punk Goes Pop 7)
Originally performed by twenty one pilots

twenty one pilots, because of their very specific and impossible-to-describe style, are definitely one of the toughest bands to cover and have some of the hardest music to make your own. Boston Manor rose to the challenge impossibly well with Heathens, mostly known for being on the Suicide Squad soundtrack, and made the song a lot heavier, fuller, and darker. A lot of twenty one pilots' tracks feel like songs within songs, because there are so many influences, layers, and intricacies to them, and I absolutely love that Boston Manor kept that essence in their cover. After the chorus, you'd expect the second verse to follow in the same pattern as the first one, but it switches and moves somewhere else entirely, and keeps doing it for the whole track. The unpredictability of it all was stunning.




Girls Just Want To Have Fun by The Maine featuring Adam Lazzara (Punk Goes Pop 5)
Originally performed by Cyndi Lauper.

Truth be told, I don't know if I want people to ever cover Girls Just Want To Have Fun, because I picture Cyndi Lauper's version as the carefree anthem of a generation of girls who wanted to stay out all night, and I don't want everyone else's hands all over it. Bur if I have to trust someone to do this cover, I'd rather it is The Maine and Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara, a match made in heaven by all accounts. Hearing emotion all over this song was surprising, to say the least, but it does work beautifully. This has been turned into a raw, intense, visceral need for...girls to be allowed to have fun and have boys call them in the middle of the night, in all its glorious absurdity. (And it has a killer guitar solo.)




Chandelier by PVRIS (Punk Goes Pop 6)
Originally performed by Sia

There has always been a dark and haunting quality to PVRIS' sound, from the beginning, and Chandelier by Sia seemed like an almost obvious choice for a cover, in the kindest possible way. I associate Sia's original with a darker side of pop music, and PVRIS' version pushes it even further in this direction. Lynn Gunn's vocals are nothing short of impressive throughout the entire song, powerful as ever on their lower register and goosebump-worthy on their higher. In many aspects, this is close to the original, but I find PVRIS' fingerprints all over in the details, in the delicate harmonies, in its atmospheric ambiance, and definitely in the way it soars in the choruses. PVRIS have always known how to do a monster chorus, and they can also make someone else's better.



That's What I Like by Dance Gavin Dance (Punk Goes Pop 7)
Originally performed by Bruno Mars

So, somewhere on Facebook, I have seen some explain why they did not like Dance Gavin Dance by saying they had "a lot going on, like when someone is wearing too many clashing patterns on the same outfit," and I have decided to reuse this as an explanation as to why I love them as much as I do. Nothing they do should work in theory, but through some sort of cosmic miracle, or magic, something unexplainable, it does. A somewhat hardcore band covering Bruno Mars' That's What I Like, a suave track all about silk sheets, diamonds, and sex by the fire at night, should not work in any realm of possibility, but they make it work. The incongruity of Jon Mess' screaming of these lyrics, paired with Tilian's smooth, almost R'n'B vocals, gives their cover a rollercoaster quality while retaining the pure groove of the original.




Top ten


All Star by Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! (Punk Goes 90s 2)
Originally performed by Smash Mouth

This is easily one of the best-known Punk Goes... covers, and for good reason. I think in covering a song like All Star, which is a beloved nineties classic, the worst thing anyone could have done was taking the fun away from it, and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!'s cover works precisely because they have infused their own brand of fun into it. They have found the perfect balance between keeping the spirit of the original version and inserting their identity as a band, and I believe this is why this cover has stuck with so many people over the years and why it has become a pop-punk club night staple. The breakdown followed by the scratchy sound before the bridge is pure JOY. To some people, making everything you do fun could be seen as a flaw, but it is the reason why I love Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! as much as I do.





Burn by Crown The Empire (Punk Goes Pop 6)
Originally performed by Ellie Goulding

This one stuck out from the first listen for two reasons. A, it's wildly different from Ellie Goulding's original, a perfect electronic-pop banger with an anthemic dimension to it. B, it's also wildly different from what I knew Crown The Empire for, which were matching outfits, concept albums, and music on the heavier side of the spectrum. This is quiet and understated with a great build-up throughout, giving the track an emotional direction it didn't have. It also shows a brand new side to Crown The Empire and puts their vocalists under the spotlight, showcasing their voices in the best possible manner. (At the time of release, former singer Dave Escamilla was still in the band.) This is a success and such an interesting one-eighty for the song and CTE.




Paint It Black by VersaEmerge (Punk Goes Classic Rock)
Originally performed by The Rolling Stones

I bet some of you will read this and think "VersaEmerge! That's a name I haven't heard in a while!" The band has (sadly) disappeared from the radar entirely, but they leave one of my favourite Punk Goes... covers in their wake. I simply love the softness and the airy quality they have given to this rock classic, through the almost electronic keyboards and the vocals, which are on a higher pitch than Mick Jagger's. Despite these changes in tone, VersaEmerge's take on Paint It Black keeps the pure rock element of the original version, and frontwoman Sierra Kusterbeck's vocals during the second half of the song are pure magic. (Those screams!)





Stitches by State Champs (Punk Goes Pop 7)
Originally performed by Shawn Mendes

I never imagined I would ever say this out loud (sort of), but every single time I hear the backing vocals in the chorus, the "OH!" that almost sounds like gang vocals, I think that State Champs have put the brotherhood into what is otherwise a very lonely post break up song. Their version of Stitches almost reads like someone expressing how they feel to a group of friends and having the immediate and enthusiastic support of everyone in the room, bringing a sense of companionship into quite the sad song. ("And now that I'm without your kisses, I'll be needing stitches.") This cover is absolutely fantastic, turning what originally feels like an introspective number into an outlet for the sadness, the desperation, and the frustration that oftentimes follow heartbreak.





Pour Some Sugar On Me by The Maine (Punk Goes Classic Rock)
Originally performed by Def Leppard

At this point in the existence of the universe and after eleven years of being a fan of The Maine, I can say with absolute certainty that I believe they can do anything. They are like Weezer and Taylor Swift in that- you could tell me they would try their hand at any genre, perform any kind of music, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest, and I know they would absolutely smash it. This is a super modern take on a classic rock anthem, and The Maine slipped into recreating what is, arguably, one of the sexiest songs in rock'n'roll, as if they did it every day. This is sounding so effortlessly good and effortlessly cool. I'm not the biggest classic rock fan of all, but I could be easily convinced if The Maine were behind the music.





Love Yourself by Grayscale (Punk Goes Pop 7)
Originally performed by Justin Bieber

The main thing that made me absolutely ADORE this cover is its music video. In it, you can watch Grayscale perform the song in front of a small crowd of fans, and everyone ends up writing the things that make them less than perfect on Post-It notes they stick to themselves, then to a wall, all together, band and fans alike, and they turn Love Yourself from an eviscerating post-breakup song into an anthem of self-love and self-acceptance. Musically speaking, this is the textbook perfect version of taking a song and making it your own without taking the original emotion away from it- they just switched its direction. Some say a song's meaning is the one you choose to give it, and I wholeheartedly agree with the way Grayscale played with the idea. This is brilliant.




Problem by Set It Off (Punk Goes Pop 6)
Originally performed by Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea

I personally would not consider Set It Off a pop-punk band as such, though they offer a perfect blend of the individuality and energy of punk and the catchiness of pop and, just because of that, it's almost as if they go into Punk Goes Pop with an unfair advantage over everyone else. By essence, they get it. I think their Ariana Grande cover is fantastic because it retains the swagger of the original. Ariana Grande exudes self-confidence in her music and artistry, and this cover works because Set It Off showcase their own brand of self-confidence. The surprise addition of a few lines from TLC's No Scrubs in the middle is the cherry on a perfectly made cake. I'll have the whole thing.




Stay The Night by State Champs (Punk Goes Pop 6)
Originally performed by Zedd and Hayley Williams.

You can't have a good cover if you don't have a good original song to work with, and you can't create a good cover if you strip the original song of what made it special and unique. It doesn't necessarily have to be emotion or intent, it could just be catchiness, a sense of fun- anything goes. To me, a song like Stay The Night is particularly hard to cover for two reasons. A, it's primarily electronic, and B, Hayley Williams is one hell of a vocalist to follow. State Champs have risen up to the challenge on this one, and the result is spectacular. You can still dance to this like you can to Zedd's version, and the vocals absolutely hold up. (There's a reason why Derek Discanio is considered one of the best vocalists in pop-punk right now.) 





Torn by Hands Like Houses (Punk Goes 90s 2)
Originally performed by Ednaswap (but we all only know Natalie Imbruglia's version.)

I am usually picky about gender-switching in covers, and I am in favour of a tasteful version of it. In plainer terms, if you are an artist planning to create your own version of a heavily gendered song, you should listen to Michael Bublé's cover of Santa Baby and do the exact opposite. Which is what, in song form, Hands Like Houses have done with Torn. This is, again, a band that understood what was asked of them. They took a song that was vastly different from their genre and infused it with their musical identity without erasing the sentiment behind the original. Torn, at its core, is a really fucking sad song. "Nothing's right I'm torn, I'm all out of faith." Talk about not okay! Hands Like Houses' version retains the sadness and desperation, but make it a little heavier and personal through the lyric switching. ("There's nothing where you used to lie" // "I don't know you anymore") If you're an artist planning to create your own version of a heavily gendered song, you should listen to Hands Like Houses' cover of Torn and use it as a model.




Little Lion Man by Tonight Alive. (Punk Goes Pop 4)
Originally performed by Mumford & Sons.

This is sheer perfection. The first thirty seconds consist of a simple guitar pattern behind vocalist Jenna McDougall, the delivery just enough to get you to the edge of your seat. When it picks up and explodes, and you can hear the guitar mimicking the banjo of the original version, you understand that Tonight Alive understood the assignment in their cover of Mumford & Sons' Little Lion Man. They have taken a song that was galaxies away from their original genre, made it their own, gave it a punch the original arguably lacked, but did not denature it in the process. There are layers to this. It starts simple, explodes, gives you a slowed down bridge you know is going to pick back up, and the final forty-five seconds are just another punch in your face- but in a slightly higher key.




The reason why I have always stuck with the Punk Goes... series and why I am always eagerly waiting for new episodes is that it combines my love of pop music, my love of alternative music, and my love of cover songs. To me, these are just matches made in heaven, and I'm so grateful Fearless Records has carried on putting them out for the past twenty years.
And, no spoilers or anything, but we're definitely going to talk about one of my ideal Punk Goes... compilations later. 

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