Streetlight Manifesto: 99 Songs of the Revolution: Volume 1 (2010)

Cover songs and especially full albums are tricky. They can be fantastic reinventions of songs you know, purely enjoyable tracks that don't stray to far from the originals or in the worst case, absolute trash. For ska-punks Streetlight Manifesto they chose to go the cover route on their 4th full length album 99 Songs of the Revolution: Volume 1. The album is the first in a planned series of albums from Streetlight related projects which will eventually cover 99 different songs. Volume 1 is a fine mix of the first 2 possibilities I listed without any song ever falling into the trash category.

They play it pretty safe on covers of the Squirrel Nut Zippers "Hell", The Dead Milkmen's "Punk Rock Girl" The Cyrkle's "Red Rubber Ball" and Paul Simon's "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" (which is very similar to the Me First and the Gimme Gimme's version) by mostly just upping the tempo. They fall into the purely enjoyable category.

For the experimental side they turn Bad Religion's "Skyscraper" into a slow skank. NOFX's "Linoleum" gets a full acoustic reggae makeover that works really well. I have no idea how Radiohead fans will react to the version of "Just" but I thoroughly enjoy it. The closing cover of Postal Service's "Such Great Heights is the best song on the album. The horn section takes on the synth line wonderfully before the rest of the band kicks in to finish it off. Since I'm not a Postal Service or Radiohead fan at all I was surprised at how much I enjoyed those 2 tracks.

If you're looking for an album of punk and ska covers you could do a lot worse than 99 Songs of the Revolution: Volume 1. While it's hardly essential, it's pretty much guaranteed to be a good time.

Rating 3/5

Track Listing:

1. "Birds Flying Away" (originally by Mason Jennings) – 3:27
2. "Hell" (originally by Squirrel Nut Zippers) – 2:56
3. "Just" (originally by Radiohead) – 3:00
4. "Skyscraper" (originally by Bad Religion) – 2:40
5. "Punk Rock Girl" (originally by The Dead Milkmen) – 2:17
6. "Linoleum" (originally by NOFX) – 2:44
7. "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard" (originally by Paul Simon) – 2:27
8. "They Provide the Paint for the Picture-Perfect Masterpiece That You Will Paint on the Insides of Your Eyelids" (originally by Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution) – 3:33
9. "Red Rubber Ball" (originally by The Cyrkle) – 2:49
10. "The Troubador" (originally by Louis Jordan) – 3:33
11. "Such Great Heights" (originally by The Postal Service) – 3:30