It's one thing to complain
Today’s song rec: “In Too Deep” x Slow Pulp
People love saying that Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails is the best of all time, but have they heard Slow Pulp’s cover of “In Too Deep” by Sum 41?
I think there’s a part of me that still just can’t stomach male vocalists, but Emily Massey’s hushed cool-girl inflection is objectively better than all of the vocals across Sum 41’s whiny discography. I don’t know what teenage angst felt like in 2001, and maybe I shouldn’t have known what teenage angst felt like as a 25-year-old in 2021, but I think Slow Pulp perfectly updated that feeling of chaos and suffocation for a generation that is equal parts explosive and catatonic.
Aside from the vocals, the stuttering percussion leading into the first chorus is one of my favorite sounds to exist. Obviously, Slow Pulp has to have loved and respected this song to cover it for its 20th anniversary, going as far as to recreate the iconic All Killer No Filler album cover — but they kind of just dunked on it?
That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it. See ya, boys.