Smash Mouth Give The Weeknd's 'Blinding Lights' A Rock Makeover

(Cleopatra Records) Still unrepentant after all these years, SoCal punk legends Smash Mouth probably aren't the first band you'd ask to serenade your Valentine. But that's because you haven't heard this - or maybe you have, but it didn't sound like this.

"Blinding Lights" was a mega hit for The Weeknd back in 2020, a Single of the Year at the Juno Awards, Top Radio Song at the Billboard beanfeast, and MTV's Video of the Year. But what was once synth-whipped and tender is now Mach 2 mayhem, a thunderous collision of riff and rhythm that encapsulates all the emotion of the original recording, but simply dares you to deny its sincerity.

Smash Mouth's Paul DeLisle recalls how the performance came about. "When I first started hearing 'Blinding Lights' on the radio all the time, several things inspired me about the song. First of all, my 12 year-old daughter loved it - always a good sign. And then there was The Weeknd's voice, a wonderfully fresh and beautiful instrument. But most of all, I heard it as a rock song. One that could be transformed using the "quiet/loud" dynamic of a Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins song. It's an intense and urgent song, and I wanted to pronounce that dynamic. I'm very pleased with the result and I hope people like it.

"Blinding Lights" is not alone in its assaultive lonesomeness, either. There's an entire album's worth of Valentine crunchers heading straight towards you, and Smash Mouth are just one of the two dozen-plus punk legends lining up to eat your chocolates and scratch your arms with red rose thorns.

From British originals like The Vibrators, The Members and Slaughter and the Dogs, to universal legends Iggy Pop, the New York Dolls and the Flaming Groovies; from The Dickies, The Vandals and Fear to The Ataris, Samiam and Blink-182, Punk Rock Valentines is exactly what you need to hear when you wake up on Feb 14, whether "Your Boyfriend Sucks" or you're "Looking for a Kiss" - and Smash Mouth... ah, Smash Mouth; you've not heard the last of them, because their punk rock Beatle classic "Love Me Do" is here as well.

But back to "Blinding Lights" for a moment, and yes, it really is blinding. And even Cupid is pogo-dancing while it plays.

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