Welcome back, readers. For months now I’ve been itching to do an Under Cover: Pop/Punk Cover edition to pay homage to two genres that go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Pop punk bands love putting out covers, performing them live, or lending them to cover collections and albums. And they leave no genre unchecked, choosing everyone ranging from the likes of Don Henley and Erasure to The Spiral Staircase and Billy Idol to Britney Spears and Joy Division.
Speaking of one of my favorite post punk bands, Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is a classic example of a fantastic song that has been covered by everyone, from U2 to Arcade Fire. But it was an unlikely Fall Out Boy cover (gasp) that actually caught my attention. Enjoy this teaser post and check back next week for a fully-fleshed out Pop/Punk Edition. And remember kids: if it’s not [pop] punk, it’s just junk!
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.Joy Division – “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (original 1980)
“Love, love will tear us apart.. again.” Perhaps a snarky response to the Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together”, or would that be a stretch and I’m just retarded today? Joy Division? More like Joy Divisiveness. No one in the history of British post-punk could sing about discord better than the late great Ian Curtis…and no one could have written a more honest take about the darker side of love. The strummy guitar coupled with that melancholy, spiraling riff in the first few seconds of this song excite me each time I hear this song. Then there’s this moody synth that manages to uplift and depress you simultaneously, while it complements his matter-of-fact, downtrodden baritone vocals. I don’t even know if I actually want to save this relationship since Joy Division makes the dissolution sound so damn good.
.Fall Out Boy cover (2003)
So I never actually thought I’d feature Fall Out Boy in any capacity for an Under Cover feature, but sometimes they do the unthinkable… put out something decent. Plus, lead singer Patrick Stump adds a certain vocal intensity to “Love Will Tear Us Apart” that made it all the more difficult to bash this cover before [or after] hearing it. This interpretation is your basic, no-frills acoustic version with guitar and energetic drums but it’s the vocal delivery that stands out most. He sings louder, with more clarity, and attempts to be emotive, ‘attempt’ being the operative word. You can’t feign desperation, Stump. In fact, he does not capture the same desolation as Ian Curtis in the original, but this cover still sounds good and that still merits some e-props. I mostly enjoy how Fall Out Boy resuscitated the original by taking things up a notch in this sped-up, livelier version that is incredibly listenable. Now if they could only work on making their original material more listenable…
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See you next week for more Pop/Punk cover action. Should you have any recommendations or requests, feel free to email them to mona@popwreckoning.com… who knows, I just may feature your selection!
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