u/1stSongOfThe2ndMoon

Hey, we all know the deal. Being a fan of this band ain't easy, it's like constantly landing between seats, sort of vibing with punk shit, pop-punk shit, 90s angst and sometimes sloppy arena boomer rock shit, while not fitting into either of these categories when you put 'em on and try to explain to people why they actually are a great band, and swallowing an amount of cringefire hotter than a bottle of Gringo Bandito (at least we can proudly say Dex was riding that stupid self-indulged trend way before it became a popular one) every now and then when it comes to some of their executive decisions - the worst of these as of late being about 30 percent of their gigs them doing random ass covers none of us care about.

I'm just expanding on the title here, really, you know what I'm asking. My personal nomination, while being realistic, thinking of obnoxious tracks they would probably enjoy playing is SHAKE IT OFF - seeing Taylor Swift popping up in 'spring posts I was thinking "YES! They finally did it! Perfect! Fuck yeah!" only to find out nah, they went for some other random algorithm-bait crapola track instead of the obvious choice. I mean call me biased, I'm not familiar with the TS discography, I'm definitely not a fan, and I do think the whole swiftie movement will eventually be looked back on as an embarrassing pop-culture snapshot akin to like boy bands, Britney copycats, or like the 90s/early 2000s SoCal radio-friendly punk stuff... not like any of us could relate to that latter one, clearly.

Anyway, here's an actual banging cover of Shake It Off with a bit off a pop-punk edge, but in the way we like it - hard, almost metal riffs contrasted against catchy high-end, almost falsetto vocals... you know where I'm getting with this, check it out if you're bored:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd1Lq_QBwxI

TL;DR: any current day dime a dozen pop tune you see them covering that could actually work? Any classics that you think could suit them? Anything on a somewhat less realistic wishlist?

PS.: don't get my moaning or any other naysaers bring you down if you're a fan and/or about to check out a gig. They are fun, if you happen to be in Canada you might be in for a good surprise, apparently, but seriously, if you're considering seeing them for the first time, go for it, you won't regret it, this is more of a boomer oldtimer never-satisfied fan moaning trip. We're all fans wishing the best for them, hoping that some of these days something clicks and they realize their full potential and live up to it. Go see them live though, if you can, they deserve that much.

I know, it's not exactly a secret this time, with Justin and Sean credited as writers, but I can't be the only one feeling this was really off, like they weren't even trying to make it sound like the Bimster, right?

Goddamn this, goddamn that, the forced profanity combos as if it it was a Nerd ep, "in the Bush administration", print money, pulled money, that sarcastic "genius business move", telling Nicole to shut the hell up - are they trying to rebrand him into this grumpy sitcom dad character combined with your generic cheeky youtube essayist?

Also, it's practically mandatory to shout AI at every new release, not sure if the suspicion is warranted here, but this one bit really stuck out to me: While moaning about the pre-show ads James seemingly randomly adds "They also have a Pepsi ad, which used to be worse" - and then he just leaves it at that, no elaboration on the comment, no visual gag, he just moves on. Might be missing something here, a reference or a joke going over my head, but my first thought was that it must be some kind of editing mistake.

Hey Justin, if you're reading this, I know this job isn't easy, I get it that experimenting and trying out new stuff is part of the deal, and I don't wanna shit on your work endlessly, there is a great old school YKWBS or top 10 vid somewhere in this, but come on, dude, you guys know us, you guys know James' audience, you know what us fans, assholish or regular variety dig about the guy. Try to remember us, please.

Cover songs you actually see them pulling off?

Most obviously ghostwritten script since Monster Madness '21