Review: The Animal In Me – Now! That’s What I Call TAIM, Vol. 1

Now That's What I Calll TAIM

Artist: The Animal In Me
Album: Now! That’s What I Call TAIM, Vol. 1
Rating: 10/10

Tracklist:
1. Call Me Maybe (Originally by Carly Rae Jepsen)
2. Tubthumping (Originally by Chumbawumba)
3. Some Nights (Originally by fun.)
4. Part of Me (Originally by Katy Perry)
5. Blow (Originally by Ke$ha)
6. Applause (Originally by Lady Gaga)
7. Thriller (Originally by Michael Jackson)
8. Wrecking Ball (Originally by Miley Cyrus)
9. I Knew You Were Trouble (Originally by Taylor Swift)
Covers are a very difficult thing to master, you either have it or you don’t. In TAIM’s case, they definitely have got it! In fact, one of the things that turned me onto the band was their phenomenal cover of “Wrecking Ball”, originally by Miley Cyrus. But what makes a cover good? Is it the ability to stay true to the original? Is it re-imaginings? Is it the originality thrown into the mix? Well, a short answer to this would be all of these. When you think of a cover, you want it to be recognizable, but you don’t want it to be the same. The idea of covering a song is to add your own flavor, while staying true to the original song. In every way imaginable, TAIM has accomplished this feat. Featuring covers of “Blow”, originally by Ke$ha, “Thriller” originally by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson and, the most shocking, at least to me: their cover of “Tubthumping”, you may know it as “Pissing the night away” or something similar, but originally by Chumbawumba. This track was a massive hit in the 90s, everywhere you went you would hear it and you would learn every word, but few ever knew what the song was actually called! The added screams, coupled with some instrumental experimentation make this one of my favorite tracks on the album. But it’s their cover of “Call Me Maybe”, or rather the video for it, that really turned my head. Featuring many well-known bands, such as Our Last Night, Fighting the Villain and more. The simple nature of the video, coupled with their originality are what really brings this combination to a boiling point. I will link that video below for you guys to check out. The band have released “Now! That’s What I Call TAIM, Vol. 1” for free via Dropbox, which I will also link below! Before I wrap this review up, I would like to talk about one more cover specifically. Staying more true to the original, their cover of “Applause” by Lady Gaga which is a phenomenal song in itself, but this cover just takes it to another level entirely! Many bands cover Lady Gaga, as her songs are pretty obviously fun to cover, but few can pull it off the way that these guys did. Female vocalist Laura’s ability to mimic Mother Monster’s voice is just uncanny.

This album is filled with surprises and originality, that much you can be sure of. What else more could you ask for out of a cover, correct? All that would be left is to hope that the cover sounds as good or better than the original! Well, in many ways, I could see all of these covers being very close in battles versus the original songs. I’m incredibly impressed with this band and look forward to their full length album, which is being recorded! For now, pick up their EP, “Instincts” and your free download of “Now! That’s What I Call TAIM, Vol. 1” and see what all the hype is about!

Download “Now! That’s What I Call TAIM, Vol. 1”

The Animal in Me on Facebook

Buy “Instincts EP” (iTunes)

“Call Me Maybe” Official Music Video