Morning Music Report #26

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are the seminal pop-punk cover band (I bet they'd love the usage of the word "seminal," as well). They've released six albums made up exclusively of cover tunes spanning several genres and eras (60s pop, R&B, etc.). Of these, my personal favourite is ...Are a Drag, which covers pretty much every famous show tune ever recorded. I was raised on show tunes, and as a teenager having a punk band take the piss out of the genre collided perfectly with my rejecting-my-upbringing phase.

Word has it that the band--which is actually made up of members of several prominent punk acts, like NOFX, Swingin' Utters, Lagwagon and No Use For a Name--is set to release an album of country classics this month, including two of my absolute faves, Dolly Parton's "Jolene" and The Eagles "Desperado" (the latter of which I've heard and it sounds amazing). It's interesting to note that Me First is probably more successful in terms of sales than some of the "real" bands these guys play in. Imitation is the sincerest form of commerce, after all.

Above, the band plays "Tomorrow" (from the musical Annie and the aforementioned ...Are a Drag) live in Germany. Leave it to a punk cover band to delegate responsibility for the enjoyment of their songs to the tune's original writers. And, only in the punk world would you pronounce a song to be "the gayest of all time" before ripping it up. Listen for a few lines from Cheap Trick's "Surrender" thrown in at the end for good measure; this is a Me First specialty. Enjoy.