Here’s a disclaimer: I promise I know what punk is. That being said, here are three pop songs from the 2010s that embody punk rock. In totally legitimate and comprehensible ways that I do my best to explain. Enjoy!
“Blah Blah Blah” — Kesha Ft. 3Oh!3
We love Kesha unapologetically in this house, and “Blah Blah Blah” is a great pop song from her “unhinged yet overly controlled” era. At the time Animal came out—and for years after, until very recently—Kesha was trapped in an abusive business relationship with producer Dr. Luke. Her early work was more or less coerced out of her, which should overrule any kind of enjoyment. However, a woman getting one over on a terrible man is pretty punk, all things considered.
Now, Kesha is free of her contract and the situation and has started her own record label. She released her latest album, Period, with similar vulnerabilities and hype that had been so carefully manufactured in the 2010s. Only this time it feels like the music is truly coming from Kesha herself, without the weight of others hanging over her.
“Because The Night” — Cascada
Technically this came out in 2008, but Cascada covering Patti Smith is definitely punk as hell, so it gets a pass. “Because The Night” was Smith’s big 1977 breakout, and Cascada’s version appeared on her second album Perfect Day alongside several other unexpected covers. Cascada transformed the usually somber, sensual song into a fast-paced techno club dream. Perfect for, I don’t know, jumping around and getting sweaty and kissing strangers, maybe.
And what else would we expect from the icon behind such pop hits as “Every Time We Touch” and “Evacuate The Dance Floor”? Another notable cover of “Because The Night” is from 10,000 Maniacs during their MTV Unplugged appearance. But that version keeps with the sultry vision of the original. Cascada, meanwhile, puts her thing down, flips it and reverses it, in the words of the great Missy Elliott.
“DONTTRUSTME” — 3OH!3
So, 3OH!3 appears here twice, whatever. There’s nothing anyone can say to me that will stop me from unironically liking the album WANT. It’s problematic and kind of terrible, sure, but there’s also a subtle cleverness to its irreverent pop songs. Or maybe that’s the nostalgia talking. Either way, I think “CHOKECHAIN” is still my favorite song from that album, but “DONTTRUSTME” is a much more perfect specimen.
That song was probably everyone’s introduction to 3OH!3, and it remains one of their best-known tracks. With such questionable lyrical gems as “You tell your boyfriend if he says he’s got beef / That I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t fuckin’ scared of him” and “Shush girl, shut your lips / Do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips,” this song has worked its way into the annals of 2010s pop history. To write lyrics that become part of a generational lexicon is pretty punk.
Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage
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