Is it odd for a psychobilly band to cover the King of Pop? Answer: Yes. But I also think that Psychobilly is a much more varied genre than what it appears to be. Psychobilly bands who don’t hold themselves to a purity ideal have produced an interesting range of cover songs over the past thirty years. I think that the perversion of one genre (roots rock and roll/rockabilly) makes psychobilly more apt to offer twisted takes on ‘old standards.’
Still – between the two kings, more psychobilly bands cover Elvis than Michael. So it’s unusual to see the Mutilators do an attempt at “Thriller.” It’s hard to touch “Thriller” since the video was always played at Halloween and it was treated as AN EVENT. They even had a making-of bit. Of course, it seems practically subtle by today’s standards of overblown production, which has made it more of a gem.
As for the song? Eh. It’s not bad. It’s funky.
Which one do you like?
1 comment
The Psychobilly Goes Pop record is pretty awesome.