Best Song Ever
Posted in music
I’m not one for novelty cover versions – I said when I last posted up Hacktivist’s version of Jay-Z / Kanye West’s Paris, which ended up being one of my favourite tracks of last year. However, over the last couple of days I’ve had ‘Best Song Ever’ by One Direction stuck on rotation in my head – and these guys are the reason.
Askira are a five-piece metal core group from Houston, Texas and they have taken what is easily one of the worst pop songs of recent years and by adding some downtuned guitars, double bass drumming and some meaty breakdowns have turned it into an instant rock dance floor classic that I, for one will be playing at every available opportunity over the next 12 months! (I’m not a pop or 1D hater incidentally – I actually think What Makes You Beautiful is a decent enough pop song – I just think it sounds like the lyrics to this particular track were written in about 30 seconds)
Two friends of mine who love to play One Direction in rock clubs are Katy and Sean from The Hype Theory. I’m looking forward to the follow-up to last year’s Captives album dropping later this year and catching their headline gig at London’s Garage on January 25th. You can hear my interview with them from last year’s Warped Tour here.
Between now and then though, there is the small matter of Lamb of God at Brixton Academy next Saturday – my first gig of 2014. There are very, very few metal bands who can play music as uncompromisingly heavy as these guys and headline a venue like Brixton, and with these dates being their first UK shows since singer Randy Blythe’s manslaughter charges, there will no doubt be an extra layer of intensity.
I’ve yet to see the film of the aforementioned manslaughter trial, As The Palaces Burn which arrives on these shores in February, but the trailer suggests it is well worth a watch.
Before January is out, I’m also looking forward to the arrival of the Brooklyn Bowl at London’s 02, catching rising UK punks Max Raptor at Camden’s Barfly, and heading to Dublin for the last ever ‘Lockdown’, a pop-punk/rock I’ve never been before but I am assured by my friends is well worth jumping on a plane for! Time will tell, but the words pouring out on Facebook from the announcement of their demise suggests this is indeed the case. I understand the date is to be announced imminently.
