Various Artists - Punk Goes 90's

The premise is fairly simple; the latest in Fearless Records' Punk Goes... series (in previous installments Punk has gone 80’s, Pop, Acoustic and Metal) features a collection of both established and rising punk/alternative bands covering significant songs from the rock canon of last decade. As one whose musically formative years came in the mid/late 90’s, I was curious to see how the songs of my youth (I think I aged just typing that sentence) would be re-interpreted on this record. The results are definitely mixed as each rendition seems to fall into one of several distinct groups. The first is made up of covers that stay relatively faithful to the original yet display enough originality to be noticeable. Hit the Lights’ pop/punk treatment of Gin Blossoms “Hey Jealousy” and Anberlin’s reworking of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” fall into this category and are two of the record’s definite highlights. The second grouping features recordings that breathe a fresh life into the original track. Emery’s ambient, balladic arrangement of “All I Want” (Toad the Wet Sprocket) and Mae’s uncharacteristically aggressive version of NIN’s “March of the Pigs” rank among the most inspired of the album’s contributions. Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”, as done by Copeland doesn’t quite compare to the aforementioned tracks but is a worthy effort along the same creative path. The final category, consisting of the attempts that fall flat, unfortunately includes far too many of the album’s tracks. Some suffer for lack of a spark while others try far too hard: Gym Class Heroes’ rap/rock take on “Under the Bridge” and The Killing Moon’s electronic/ska/I’m not sure what pass at Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know” are among the worst offenders. Fans of these and similar bands (other notable participants include The Starting Line and Cartel) will likely enjoy the “new” material from these artists. Those wistful for a bit of their rock and roll childhood may find several tracks to hang old memories on but would do better to dig out their back catalog of CDs. [www.myspace.com]