Category: Lists

Cover songs are something I don’t recommend new bands do. I’m often at a local show trying to take in some new music, then the band jump into a cover of something everybody knows (“Fortunate Son” and “Blitzkrieg Bop” are common ones). The audience will compare and contrast the classic song to the band’s original material, which will often reflect unfairly on the band because the audience is more familiar with these songs. As a band, the last thing you want to be remembered as is that band that plays some other guy’s song. It’s true that covering “Freebird” will get you some cheap applause, maybe get some feet on the floor, but it’s a shortcut that becomes hard to escape as the fans become accustomed to you covering whatever they want. Set the expectation of your shows to be about your own artistry, or you’ll end up one of those sad irish pub guitar singers playing Oasis to assholes all night.

The Kinks are a band with an interesting story. They were part of the british invasion, having a few hits in the beginning, songs like “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night”. Later in their career they made more experimental and complex albums, which didn’t do as well commercially and are under-appreciated to this day. They’re a band that had many ups and downs and had to work hard for what they got. We’re not experts, and we probably missed some awesome songs. Our list stays away from some of their super-hits, instead we try to shine the light on some stuff a casual listener may not know.

We grew up with games, and we have gotten to see the music in them progress (or regress) over time. There are too many to choose from, but here are our favorites:

The art of the short song is a tricky one to master. The song must be concise, while not feeling incomplete or lacking in substance. Here are the songs we feel that do it best:

The art of the short song is a tricky one to master. The song must be concise, while not feeling incomplete or lacking in substance. Here are the songs we feel that do it best:

A guitar solo in punk rock is a bit of a contradiction. Normally a solo is where a musician can show off. In punk rock there are no musicians, everything is easy, and everyone sucks.

Over the years punk expanded, sub-genres emerged, conventions were challenged, and things changed. Nowadays everything and nothing is punk rock. Kanye West is punk rock; the same way that Jackson Pollock is an artist or Cheez Whiz is a food. Here are the solos we feel stay true to the tradition: