Roland High Life Cover Wheatus

Photo by Steph Rosa

Wheatus' 2000 hit song "Teenage Dirtbag" has achieved iconic status recently thanks to a viral TikTok trend that has reintroduced the song to a new generation. Boston's favorite "earnest power pop punk americana nerd folk emo rock" band Roland High Life have released a new version of the track that evokes enough of the original while still putting their own spin on it. It's the kind of fun and lighthearted cover we could all use after what was probably a batshit week for us all (but aren't they all lately?), and we're all probably having some serious nostalgia for our lives pre-2001 these days. Roland High Life's version is a little bit grittier while still keeping the pop hooks of Wheatus' original. Plus, they've updated Noelle's boyfriend's car from an IROC to a Cybertruck, which is the best possible choice.

Roland High Life says of their cover of "Teenage Dirtbag":

"Why the hell did an indie rock band from Boston just drop a Wheatus cover?! To be honest, we had originally learned the song to fill some space in a cover set at a bar gig (you know, the shows that pay actual money, even though no one pays attention to your band). It was such a surprising hit with that crowd that we started adding it to our regular set with our own little twist — and every time, the crowd would go absolutely wild. We recorded this version at the Record Co in Boston, with audio engineering by Dereck Blackburn of Quiethouse Recording, who also mastered the track. Otherwise, it was produced and mixed by us."

You can listen to Roland High Life's version of "Teenage Dirtbag" below. The song is currently available through Bandcamp. For more on Roland High Life, check out the band's website.