Athletically delivered power ska punk cover versions can sometimes be more fun than Mickey's Monkey with a buzz and sometimes be as uninspiring as Foghat stuck on repeat as demonstrated by the Floridian band Less Than Jake on Goodbye Blue and White, their hard to find rarities anthology released on this day eight years ago. The title is not a farewell to Penn State University, but a reference in homage to a faithful tour van that finally went kaput. Although they selected songs that were fist-in-the-air moronic/anthemic (Twisted Sister's We're Not Gonna Take It), raw and infectious (The Jam's Modern World) and bursting ripe with ironic potential (The Partridge Family's I Think I Love You), all the high energy's purpose seems to be put toward racing to the song's end to get it over with as soon as possible rather than fully exuberate in the joie de vivre of that ska punk slam and bounce.
For example:
They couldn't manage to do with the theme song from Laverne and Shirley what, for example, Husker Du was able to do with the theme song from Mary Tyler Moore? I can't put my finger on why, because they bring something heady to their cover of this Cheap Trick classic:
Is it because this song can easily be punked up, speeded up but not so much ska-ed up?
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