No matter how bad my day went, “Me First and the Gimme Gimmes” and their unapologetic style (almost) always bring me back to life.

Maybe you should also give it a try—but I have to warn you: they are pretty loud.

“Me First and the Gimme Gimmes” are a so-called superband that transforms well-known pop songs into banging punk rock tunes. And as a good friend of mine once said, “Covers always work.”

The combination of popular songs with loud guitars and banging drums is exactly the type of energy that lifts me up on dark days. Today I was feeling pretty down, but then I listened to their work for about two hours—and suddenly, my mood changed.

I know that punk rock is not everyone’s jam, but this band is a gateway drug to grasp the idea of this music genre. The band was founded in 1995 as a project of the record label “Fat Wreck Chords.”

As of now, their four key members are Spike Slawson (Swingin’ Utters), Joey Cape, and Dave Raun from Lagwagon—and my idol,  guru, and English teacher Michael Burkett who is known as “Fat Mike” (lead singer of Nofx).

It might sound funny, but without Burkett, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

He isn’t perfect, and neither am I—but he inspired me to accept exactly that when I was a teenager. Now, he is in his 50s and is still my guru on life, which is a story I will tell another day.

Even if you are not familiar with these folks, you probably know one of the past guitar players of this band: Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett who also used to be a member of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, besides many other legends from bands like Bad Religion, Minor Threat, and Frenzal Rhomb.

If you’ve never heard about any of these gentlemen, I highly recommend checking out this energetic and unapologetic band.

Here is one of my favorites, but I highly suggest searching their channel for your favorite pop song—I am sure they got you covered.