Review Summary: Punk Goes Pop with a little Disney Magic
The collision course of the dramatic pomp of Disney soundtrack standards and the pop punk adjacent scene sounds silly in the grand scheme of things. When announced a lot of us felt pretty perplexed as to the nature of this project’s existence. Sure, I am a battle scarred veteran of the landscape where Fearless records’
Punk Goes… compilations were a big deal. However the combination of Disney show tunes into this formula was not something I anticipated.
For the majority of the run time the compilation does little to justify its existence beyond the sheer surface level of alternative pop rock heavyweights performing songs from a lot of our youth. New Found Glory’s rendition of “Part of your World”, Mayday Parade’s version of “Remember Me” and Boys Like Girls cover of “You’ll Be In My Heart” come off as glorified karaoke. On the other side of the Disney Dollar, risks taken such as the lo-fi, auto-tuned drenched stylings of “Let It Go” by Lolo, and Plain White T’s… rapping on their iteration of “Surface Pressure” fall on deaf ears for this reviewer.
Negatives notwithstanding, I wanted to spotlight Yellowcard’s rendering of “A Whole New World” for understanding the assignment. The harmonies here between Ryan Key, and Chrissy Costanza of Against the Current are as beautiful as they are in the original version. The instrumental feels exhilarating and showcases a gorgeous violin outro. This feels distinct to the band and a pure highlight for the compilation.
There are several more instances where the compilation feels mystical like the studio that produced many of our favorite childhood movies and experiences are known for. We the Kings on “Go the Distance” sound the best they have had since
Sunshine State of Mind. Magnolia Park brings energy and a pretty fun vocal performance to their edition of “I2I”. “Friend Like Me” and Bowling for Soup are a match made in the Magic Kingdom. The inherent snark and personality of the group does Robin Williams justice and definitely closes the collection out nicely.
This compilation feels like the maximization of the crossroads of the “Disney adult” and “elder emo” subcultures. This may even be a last gasp for the so-called “emo revival” that has sustained the 2020’s to date. It feels like this is designed to be nothing more than a product for us to share with each other as a lot of us are getting older and fading away in relevance from the cultural zeitgeist. When the project shines its brightest like the star you wish upon, you feel the Disney Magic. As a whole though, this is mostly inessential.
