9 Exceptional Punk(ish) Covers Of Chart-Topping Songs

Below are some pretty addictive and well-done covers that some people may or may not claim are better than the originalz.

Quite a few of these fall much more into the pop-punk genre — but to cluster, say, the first one, into the same genre as say, the eighth one, is probably incorrect and possibly insulting on some fundamental level. Genre and headline generalization technicalities aside, here are some terrific punk and pop-punk covers of some of the past two decade’s loudest hits:

1. I Prevail – Blank Space (Taylor Swift)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czb_CZfWko8&w=560&h=315%5D

Blank Space, arguably, is the best pop song in years. I Prevail‘s take on Blank Space is, arguably, the best Taylor Swift cover in years. It’s got 4.5 million views in two months, which is a stat that you could tell people and then feel impressive by proxy.

2.The Last Sleepless City – Let It Go (Idina Menzel)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPMsNrzJ4To&w=560&h=315%5D

Let It Go quickly became one of those songs that, no matter where you were, you couldn’t stop playing. I know I’m generalizing and possibly putting words in your mouth, but I personally found Let It Go to be just as addicting as it was good.  The Last Sleepless City’s cover maintains that same ideology.

3. Framing Hanley – Lollipop (Lil Wayne)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbUR0SRceD0&w=420&h=315%5D

The video here is the peak of a high school teenage fantasy. The song isn’t half bad either.

4. The Sweet Apes – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (Taylor Swift)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G12sdBRn9do&w=420&h=315%5D

With shades of Paramore, The Sweet Apes turn a bubbly breakup song into something that hits a little harder.

5. Tonight Alive – Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCyxbf85SXY&w=420&h=315%5D

This was on one of the more recent “pop goes punk” CDs, part of a series that began to crop up in the early 2000s off the success of the Now That’s What I Call Music! craze. In my expert and/or not to be taken seriously opinion, this is one of the series’ best.

6. Quietdrive – Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWy0DhVgZn0&w=1280&h=720%5D

You may recall this making it to the radio around the mid-2000s. This was a personal high school fave, making it into one of those CDs I’d put into my car, overplay for three weeks, and then completely forget about until compiling a list of cool covers.

7. Patrick Stump – So Sick (Ne-Yo)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V5qJv0hCLQ&w=560&h=315%5D

Patrick Stump’s take on Ne-Yo’s timeless breakup song is one of those rare, hidden gems of the internet. The next time you lament the ways in which the digital age has contributed to the fall of society, remember that it also contains things like this.

8. New Found Glory – Kiss Me (Sixpence None The Richer)

As with the overall style of New Found Glory, this song manages to be ruthlessly making fun of itself while also ensuring that it’s a quality song. Rather entertaining visuals, as well.

9. Patent Pending – I Want It That Way (Backstreet Boys)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aehTg4LWHrA&w=1280&h=720%5D

Patent Pending released an EP entitled Spring Break ’99 a few years ago. All the songs on the EP are (excellent) covers of songs that were big at the turn of the century — there’s some Sugar Ray, Limp Bizkit, and more. This Backstreet Boys cover does what most good covers do — respects and toes the line of the original, while very much becoming something new.