Fresh Coverage: Pop-punk boys take on dance, country, and folk...

Because covering a song may very well be the biggest form of musical flattery, here are a few discoveries from some of my favorite pop-punk bands/indie artists as they bring interesting twists to some familiar mainstream hit songs...and while you're at it, go check out their original stuff...you won't soon regret it.

Forever The Sickest Kids - Love Story: The power pop sextet takes on Taylor Swift's country-pop hit about teenage love) from Romeo's P.O.V.

A Cursive Memory - Disturbia: This teenage foursome surprisingly give a funky/soulful rendition of Rihanna's '08 summer jam)

School Boy Humor - Realize: This little known Arkansas-based band may be new to the scene (their Vagrant Records debut album hits stores this month), but they are groomed to be the next big thing as they take on this Colbie Caillat classic.

A Rocket To The Moon - Forever & Always: Last, but certainly not least...ARTTM a.k.a. Nick Santino proves that with two instruments (his voice and guitar), his stripped-down acoustic effort is, perhaps, more earnest-sounding than the original. But then again, a song such as this is owed to amazing lyrics by Miss Swift.

Fresh Video: Colbie Caillat - The Little Things

What is a better place to shoot a music video than in the city of San Francisco? Colbie Caillat shows some Bay love with her new single "The Little Things". In the beginning shots you can actually see St. Ignatius, my school's de facto church. In the video, there are scenes of Colbie playing her guitar in the local neighborhood's quirky laundromat. Very SF. And she looks longingly at her love interest in a neighborhood I can't quite decipher yet. It's still in SF. Of course, there are shots of the Taraval MUNI line. Ditto. Take a look:

08.25.07

Ray's Earworm Top 40
For the week ending Saturday August 25, 2007

TW= this week's position
LW= last week
Δ= change
PP= peak position
WC= weeks on the chart
(#1) = weeks at top spot

TW LW Δ PP WC Artist - Title (#1)
01 02 +01 01 03 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly (1 week at #1)
02 04 +02 02 05 Paramore - Misery Business
03 08 +05 03 03 Maroon 5 - Won't Go Home Without You
04 03 -01 01 10 Jon McLaughlin - Beautiful Disaster (1 week at #1)
05 05 N C 01 05 Matt Nathanson - Gone (1 week at #1)
06 06 N C 01 10 Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry (1 week at #1)
07 14 +07 07 02 A Fine Frenzy - Almost Lover
08 01 -07 01 05 Matt Nathanson - Car Crash (1 week at #1)
09 11 +02 09 05 Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music
10 15 +05 10 03 KT Tunstall - Hold On
11 07 -04 07 04 Carrie Underwood - So Small
12 13 +01 10 06 Aqualung - Pressure Suit
13 09 -04 05 10 Lifehouse - First Time
14 12 -02 09 10 Michael Bublé - Everything
15 16 +01 01 10 Boys Like Girls - The Great Escape (1 week at #1)
16 10 -06 10 03 You Are The Music In Me - Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens
17 DEBUT 17 01 Faber Drive - Tongue Tied
18 23 +05 14 06 Sara Bareilles - Love Song
19 17 -02 03 10 Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
20 20 N C 01 10 Yellowcard - Light Up The Sky (1 week at #1)
21 19 -02 19 02 We The Kings - Check Yes Juliet
22 18 -04 01 10 Gym Class Heroes feat. Patrick Stump - Clothes Off! (1 week at #1)
23 DEBUT 23 01 Colbie Caillat - Oxygen
24 21 -03 02 07 My American Heart - The Shake (Awful Feeling)
25 22 -03 01 10 Avril Lavigne - When You're Gone (1 week at #1)
26 32 +06 06 08 Kat DeLuna feat. Elephant Man - Whine Up
27 24 -03 05 10 The Almost - Say This Sooner
28 DEBUT 28 01 Sean Kingston - Me Love
29 25 -04 03 10 Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
30 28 -02 03 09 Rooney - When Did Your Heart Go Missing
31 29 -02 15 10 Cartel - Lose It
32 26 -06 26 05 Maroon 5 - Wake Up Call
33 31 -02 01 10 Rihanna feat. Jay-Z - Umbrella (1 week at #1)
34 27 -07 25 05 Little Big Town - A Little More You
35 DEBUT 35 01 Vanessa Carlton - Nolita Fairytale
36 30 -06 13 04 Mark Ronson feat. Daniel Merriweather - Stop Me
37 35 -02 08 10 The Bravery - Time Won't Let Me Go
38 33 -05 13 08 Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E. - The Way I Are
39 DEBUT 39 01 Jordin Sparks- Tattoo
40 36 -04 10 06 Fabolous feat. Rihanna - First Time

Bubbling Under: 41 to 45
41 37 -04 06 10 Gwen Stefani - 4 in the Morning
42 34 -08 34 02 Mika - Erase
43 40 -03 31 10 Elliott Yamin - Wait For You
44 42 -02 13 10 Paula DeAnda - When It Was Me
45 38 -07 14 07 Relient K - The Best Thing

Falling Off (peak in bold)
Hilary Duff - Stranger - 6 weeks: 29 23 29 31 32 39
Kelly Clarkson - Sober - 9 weeks: 34 12 08 19 27 26 32 38 41
+44 - 155 - 5 weeks: 44 43 37 43 45
Vanessa Hudgens - Say OK - 8 weeks: 26 17 24 35 37 41 42 44

Biggest Debut
Faber Drive - Tongue Tied (debut at #17)

Biggest Jump
A Fine Frenzy - Almost Lover (#7, up 7 spots from #14 last week)

Biggest Decline
Mika - Erase (#42, down 8 spots from #34 last week)

Upcoming Songs On The Bubble
Ben Harper - In The Colors
Fergie - Clumsy
Fall Out Boy - I'm Like A Lawyer...(Me & You)