If something has characterized Miley Cyrus, apart from her enormous hits – from 'Party in the USA' to 'Flowers' – it has been her ability to make covers. To choose them and to execute them. Due to the success of her adaptations of 'Zombie', 'Heart of Glass' or 'Communication', perhaps someone has thought that Miley is the right person to open the tribute album that is released today for Talking Heads.
And it's not nonsense. 'Everyone's Getting Involved' includes contributions from The National, Toro y Moi, Paramore, girl in red, Lorde and He Killed a Motorized Policeman, among many others. In addition, Miley Cyrus has won what is the biggest hit of David Byrne's legendary band, 'Psycho Killer'.
The original Talking Heads theme was a rock song that you could dance to. It is what characterized the music of the late 70s that already guessed where the 80s would go. In the case of this song from Talking Heads' debut, it is so pioneering that it dates back to 1977.
Miley Cyrus has covered it with electronics. It's so robotic that it has gone too far. There's some ultra Garbage offshoot, maybe some Prodigy or Chemical Brothers, which might make sense because the '90s were another decade where guitars and synthesizers met.
However, an uncomfortable sense of hodgepodge predominates that does not whet the appetite for what we will find in 'Everyone's Getting Involved'. There is a moment when we don't know if we are listening to more 'Swastika Eyes' by Primal Scream, or 'Boring of being out' by L kan. And it wasn't the goal. Cyrus would have embroidered a purely rock & roll version of 'Psycho Killer'. Or a 100% raver, if she wanted to reinvent herself. Meeting halfway this time just didn't work.
