By Jonny Bakes
Cover songs aren’t always popular at ÜRHQ, however the big boss knows that metal covers are absolutely my jam – having carefully helped to curate a covers playlist to entertain the volunteers at Bloodstock Festival. So, it’s no surprise that when an EP of covers arrived across the editor’s desk, it swiftly found its way into my inbox for a review.
I instantly knew I was in for a winner when I took a look at the tracklist for Toothdrinker’s ‘We are not Impressed’ as soon as I saw the first track… ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ by Shania Twain. The track that is a bonafide anthem and guaranteed to make the crowd wild at the Bloodstock silent disco (and pretty much everywhere else) gets the metalised treatment. I think that before I even listened to the song, I knew it would end up firmly in my covers playlist but as soon as it kicked in, it was pretty clear that I was on to a winner.
The band have managed to capture the essence of both versions of the Shania Twain original (remember, there was a country version and the ÜK dance mix) and maintaining the sassy energy whilst jazzing up the guitars to be just a little bit heavier. To top it off at the end there’s a brief visit to ‘Man, I Feel Like a Woman’ just to give you that extra bit of nostalgia.
The other covers get a bit more obscure though with a cover of The Jetzons’ ‘Hard Times’ which some may recognise as bearing a resemblance to the Ice Cap Zone music from ‘Sonic the Headgehog 3’, and it was believed to have been rewritten by The Jetzons’ keyboardist as he composed music for the game. The video game theme continues with ‘Bloody Tears’, which will be recognisable to fans of the Castlevania game series and also gets the metal treatment.
All in all, ‘We are not Impressed’ is a fun little collection of covers that’ll appeal to ‘90s kids and video game fans alike. There’s not really much else to say than that though, for me the Shania cover is what makes this stand out, and perhaps without that it wouldn’t get the same level of attention from me, but perhaps that’s just because I don’t have the same level of affinity with the other tracks. I’d certainly give it a go if covers float your boat!
- ‘We Are Not Impressed’ is out now.
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