Remember when Britney Spears was known for making pop music and not for shaving her or her kids’ heads? Well, I was never a fan of hers, but I must admit that “Toxic” is a pretty catchy song and the only one I like by the pop princess. So for this week’s edition of Sara’s Covers Revue, we have Chino Hills’ own screamo heroes A Static Lullaby covering “Toxic”.
In the original, the song starts off with that instantly recognizable screeching melody and Britney’s nasally voice. As much as I hate to admit it, the song is pretty catchy! The beat is simple, it has a little guitar riff sprinkled throughout and some strings (sure, they may be synthesized) used in a very clever way. Not to mention the lyrics are pretty easy to relate to as I’m sure many of us have come across that person who you just can’t help but be drawn to, no matter how good or bad they are to or for you!
A Static Lullaby does a pretty good job of staying true to the song while putting their own twist on it, which in my opinion is a good thing. What’s interesting is that they keep everything pretty much the same, but since the band is considered screamo/hardcore/what-have-you, the rock spin actually sounds pretty awesome. It has a sort of Western/”Miserlou” by Dick Dale (you know, that Pulp Fiction song) guitar feeling to it at times. If you’re a fan of it, the screaming lyrics compliment the alternating singing melodies and the music well.
Since A Static Lullaby is a product of that huge “screamo” scene the song is very polarizing, but in my opinion their cover of “Toxic” is super fun. The video on the other hand has way too many close-ups of the douche kind. I’m sure the dancing Britney clones will make the video worth watching for you boys out there, though!
By the way, while doing research for this entry, I discovered that A Static Lullaby did a rather horrible cover of “The Everlasting Gaze” for the album The Killer in You: A Tribute to the Smashing Pumpkins, which was released in 2006. Check it out here.