“The Worst Band, Worst Song of 2009?” the music-aggregation site The Daily Swarm wondered about the Christian scream-core outfit Confide and their new single “Such Great Heights,” which is a cover of the bubbly, UPS-approved single released by indie-blip outfit the Postal Service a few years back. The song starts off as a pretty straight cover, but then the vocals kick in and, well… let’s just say that lead singer Ross Kenyon’s style of singing was definitely not influenced by Ben Gibbard. Clip after the jump.
As you might expect, this cover—which is most assuredly not worse than “I Love College,” and which if you strip out Kenyon’s singing is actually not all that unfaithful to the original!—is resulting in much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth. One of the nicer reactions below the video is as follows:
Wow. I already hate screamo cause it’s a pile of shit, but now there’s just a white fiery rage burning inside. Good job on making an absolutely beautiful song into a fucking car wreck.
There’s much more where that came from (and it’s much angrier, and filled with mocking of the band’s prettiness!). But in the grand scheme of things, you have to give Confide credit for one thing: Getting the attention of self-appointed tastemaking types who would normally never “lower their standards” and give a Christian screamo band a first look, let alone a second—and then, twisting that attention into outrage thanks to the seeming “debasement” of one of their most beloved songs. This video already has 8,700 views and is approaching 200 comments! Would a plain old screamy song about how God is great have done that? Not a chance.
So, bands out there whose aesthetics might not be right in line with the indie world’s tastes, but who want to grab that ever-elusive online buzz: Heed the gospel according to Confide, and you too can up your Google Blog Search ranking. It’s genius, really—the sort of flip side to the “sleepy covers of pop songs” pitfall that trips up all but the best indie-rock outfits. Who here wants to put down odds on how long it is before the world is “treated” to brokeNCYDE’s crunked-out version of “My Girls”?
Confide - Such Great Heights [YouTube via The Daily Swarm]
Confide [Buzznet]
This is pretty much the 2009 equivalent of Limp Bizkit’s “Faith” cover, though, isn’t it?
@Audif Jackson Winters IV: ooh, good call.
@Audif Jackson Winters IV: although i do feel like ‘heights’ has more of a sacred-cow status.
I am pretty sure that every few days, a screamo band records a shitty version of a popular song, putting their shitty spin on it. I didn’t get why this is getting any more attention than others, but I forgot that people really liked “Such Great Heights” to begin with.
Why are people so defensive of an electronic pop song? It’s been in tv commercials for years, it’s not like Confide are ruining some underground phenomenon or claiming it as their own.
What is it about screamo that just makes me giggle? I think it might be the cookie monster vocals. This idea that in order to communicate how hard it is to be 15 you have to sound like you’re gargling drano just reminds me of the idea that you don’t have to speak the native language while in a foreign country — just speak English slowly and loudly.
Hatebreed vs. the entire “For Emma, Forever Ago” album! Make it (never) happen, Internet!!
It isn’t that a harder(?) band covered a good indie song, it is that they did a horrible job with it. For positive examples, please see the Dillinger EP. I enjoyed that.
Hmm, it appears their drummer should stick to Taylor Swift covers.
http://www.myspace.com/averypkwy
Seen one too many crabcore videos lately, which seem to operate in their own universe where bunny-hopping during breakdowns is OK and encouraged and not punishable by law. The Attack Attack video is only slightly more ridiculous than this.
Meanwhile I’m pretty sure For Emma, Forever Ago would be endlessly improved by something not-boring being done to it.
Uh, this is better than The Postal Service, who are pretty terrible without screamo vocals.
@Christopher R. Weingarten: I much prefer this to the original. The Postal Service is as overrated as they come. Isn’t the reason there has never been a followup is that Ben Gibbard isn’t actually all that fond of it either? I could have sworn I read that somewhere.
@Christopher R. Weingarten: Man, I’m all for rejecting the stifling influence of yuppie-indie and Starbucks music and all that, but…really? You don’t have to like the Postal Service, Gibbard or any of the genres they come out of to acknowledge that song as near-perfectly composed and recorded. I have friends who find PS twee and overrated who readily acknowledge “Such Great Heights” as a towering exception. (If anything, this cover only enhances my opinion of the song.) When they write the book on this decade, they’re going to mark that song as one of its 10 or 20 best pop songs.
I mean, there’s contrarian, and then there’s nyah-nyah-nyah. Come on!
@Chris Molanphy: Top 10 or 20? Man, this has been a shit decade.
@Chris Molanphy: Then that book will suck.
Maybe Confide just hates the Postal Service?
(It actually wasn’t that bad if you like screamo and pop tunes… is it even possible to like both at the same time?)
@MayhemintheHood: LOL OMG YOU WIN INTERNET!!!!!111!!!
@Chris Molanphy: F’reals?
*sigh*
I just wish sometimes that people would remember that Jimmy Tamborello did a freakin’ great job with the synth programming on The Postal Service record. That band isn’t just Ben Gibbard’s hapless squacking. Tamborello brought Morr Music delightfulness to the mainstream; made that accessible without watering it down. Yes, the whole kit and caboodle was co-opted by the yuppie milquetoasts, but geez. It’s still actually a pretty great album. And believe me, it takes a lot for me to admit it.
That being said, I don’t hate this as much as I expected. Dynamics! Wow!
yeah, open your mind. (: to new things.
enough said.
“Would a plain old screamy song about how God is great have done that? Not a chance”
Shut up you IDIOT! have you never heard of Underoath?!
Stop writting about things which you have no clue about!