Does an entire covers album full of 90’s alternative radio hits sound like a good idea for a hardcore-influenced pop-punk band? I didn’t think so either, but that’s exactly what Four Year Strong’s latest release, Explains It All is. Bad move space cadet. Now before you judge me, know that this isn’t a tribute, but rather, a band who thinks they can make a mockery of songs that (for the most part) weren’t that great to begin with. You see these are obviously not influences of Four Year Strong. I get that everyone loves a good/funny/well-timed cover song, you know, one cover song here and there. I get it, but this, not so much. For those of us who actually remember when these were the current modern alternative rock songs, Explains It All might be a bit entertaining, but there’s no lasting value to anything on this album. Seriously guys, this joke isn’t funny anymore. It never was. The cover of Nirvana’s “In Bloom” and Smashing Pumpkins’ “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” are horrendous. There are even a few covers here (namely Sugar Ray’s “Fly”) that are even worse than the terrible originals. A few of the songs are marginally worth listening to, but I wouldn’t recommend wading through this crap to find ‘em, so I’ve posted the decent ones below. If I was Four Year Strong, I’d be embarrassed.
Yeah. So I wrote all of the words above and then watched a “making of” Explains It All video on their Myspace page and, fuck, I was laughing and, dammit, I kinda like these guys. I really like Rise Or Die Trying but this is just a little much. I don’t retract my previous statements as much as I just felt like I needed to write some kind of addendum explaining it all.
MP3:
Four Year Stong - So Much For The Afterglow (Everclear cover)
Four Year Strong - Roll To Me (Del Amitri cover)
