This major key cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" turns a dismal classic into cheerful pop-rock pablum
The internet is in no way lacking in key-change covers of popular songs, as has probably been definitively proven by any number of attempts to grunge-up “Happy Birthday” by shifting it into a minor key. Still, it’s not every day that someone goes out of their way to really ruin a classic by shifting its tone, as Austin-based psychedelic pop band Sleep Good did with this annoying well-crafted, ear-womingly cheerful major-key rendition of Nirvana’s teen angst anthem, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
To their credit, Sleep Good does a pretty credible Kurt Cobain wail on the track—which they’ve cleverly renamed “Teen Sprite”to reflect its new, upbeat sensibilities—but it doesn’t do much to alleviate the slowly growing unease as the anger in Nirvana’s famously bitter breakout hit picks up the sonic qualities of a dreamy chill-out song you might hear playing at a laid-back SoCal smoothie shack.