Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Single Review: SHE WANTS THE D-PAD & GOT ITEM! Dig Up Her Bones (Misfits Cover)

It’s been two decades since I heard this song’s original incarnation, recorded by the Misfits on their comeback album American Psycho. As much as that album reestablished them as one of the USA’s premier punk bands, Missouri’s She Wants The D-Pad with Got Item! breathe new life into Dig Up Her Bones by presenting an entirely new interpretation. From Chase Fincher’s interview here, She Wants The D-Pad a Nintendocore band that enhance their songwriting with electronic sounds as opposed to keyboards, strings and backing vocals. I hadn’t heard anything from Got Item! before hearing of this single; Got Item! is a Nintendocore project based in Sacramento, California that mixes guitars and high pitched vocals with their electronics. Pooling their resources together, these bands created what could be a milestone in underground music validating N-core as a legitimate genre. Even within Nintendocore it sounds like a unique recording, with a well-founded organic base and multiple layers collected during the recording process. The laconic intro of a werewolf howling in the distance (which Chase said is sampled from The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time) sounds similar to the Misfits’ recording, however the similarities abruptly end as this version moves toward computerized themes, drum programming and background guitars providing a traditional death/black metal element. For a backing instrument, the guitar is an integral part of the cover, adding crunch that is joined by the drum programming. This is complemented by cybernated progressions that complete the overall sound. The vocals are another of the organic elements here, alternating between high pitched and low pitched (in the verses) and melodic in the choruses. What’s most moving about this track is that those involved took it seriously enough to make these elements work together. How well they work depends on your personal taste but all the same this is a cover worth checking out, if for any other reason because it has never been tried before. -Dave Wolff

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