Ah, the venerable tradition of pop-punk bands putting their energetic, snot-nosed stamp on songs from different genres.
Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 2 canvasses similar ground as its predecessor, which saw the likes of
Thrice and
Further Seems Forever covering songs by
Britney Spears,
*NSYNC, and
Belinda Carlisle. Released seven years later, the series' second volume tackles songs by
the Fray,
Rihanna,
Sean Kingston, and
Miley Cyrus, while also including older material like
Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta." Many of the resulting covers stick close to the source material, resulting in an album that's perhaps more indebted to pop music than the band's punky bedrock. ~ Andrew Leahey