Lounge lizard

Among my favourite Christmas presents this year is a CD called Lounge Against the Machine, a set of cover versions of punk, new wave and indie classics performed in a Las Vegas style. It is credited to Richard Cheese, who is in fact a comedian named Mark Jonathan Davis.

Although the idea of performing songs in a different style/genre from the original versions is hardly new, this is particularly well done. The best track is a jaunty version of Radiohead's angst-ridden 'Creep'. Radiohead are of course no strangers to ironic covers, having recorded interesting versions of 'Rhinestone Cowboy' and 'Video Killed the Radio Star'.

I see that LATM was released five years ago, so this is hardly topical. Although it is a single-joke concept it is fun nonetheless. It is not to be confused with the group Nouvelle Vague, who take a different set of punk standards and perform them in the French (rather than Las Vegas) lounge style.