Reviewed by Graeme Crawford

Imagine yourself for a moment as a successful musician. You want to put together an album of cover songs. You would probably look for songs that inspired you to become a musician, that remind you of important times, and that you just simply really like. Taking these criteria into account you can understand the inclusion of the '80s classics "Africa" by Toto and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears, the more contemporary "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, and tracks by obscure bands such as The Wallflowers and Cake. I'm not sure that the band can justify the inclusion of Justin Bieber's "Baby", which sounds even more inane when performed by the Ohio-based rockers. And there isn't even the merest hint of tongue-in-cheek on their dull sounding rendition of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". Still, the vocals on 'K Is For Karaoke''s eclectic mix of songs are well handled by Matthew Thiessen, even if listeners may struggle with some of the song selections.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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Relient K have been making music since 1997 when Thiessen and Hoopes formed the band in High School. In the 14 years since they’ve released six full-length albums, six EPs and a Christmas record. They have toured the globe and racked up several hit singles, a Grammy nomination, two Dove awards and performances on several prestigious US television shows.

The Los Angeles Times has praised Relient K for “its smart blend of punk pop and power pop, weaving together influences as diverse as the Beach Boys, Blink-182 and Fountains of Wayne” while Spin noted, “Few bands play punk-influenced modern rock as proficiently”.

The name Relient K has always been synonymous with melodic songwriting, tongue-in-cheek humour and all around good music. The band are now releasing what is easily one of the most fun and indiscriminate cover albums to grace alternative music to date.

“We have always talked about wanting to do a covers record, and we are excited to finally release one. We always try to include cover songs in our live show, so it was nothing new for the band, and working through the songs was fairly easy. We tried to put our own take on the songs while retaining the melody and other musical sections from the original songs.” - Matthew Hoopes.