Personal Trainer – "Key of Ego" (2022)

Give me more baritone

Pass my testosterone

This year’s “28 Records in 28 Days” will introduce the first (and perhaps only) class of inductees into my brand-new 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” COVER RECORDS HALL OF FAME.

I originally named that hall of fame the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” COVER SONGS HALL OF FAME.  I’ve changed it because it recently struck me that I’ve been wrong to talk about songs on my wildly successful little blog when I’m really writing about recordings.

For the last few months, I’ve been trying to use song only when I’m talking specifically about a songwriter’s work, and use record when I’m talking about the final recording – which is most of the time.

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After all, the song is merely step #1 of a recording.  There are two other key elements of a recording: the arrangement and the performance.

What I mean by performance (step #3 of a recording) should be obvious – it refers to the actual sounds produced by everyone who sings and plays instruments on the record.  

If you’re not familiar with the term arrangement, it refers to the elaboration of the bare bones of a song – the notes the songwriter has written down on paper – through the arranger’s choices about instrumentation, tempo, and so on.  It’s step #2 of a recording.

(Actually, it’s neither)

Many people focus on the song or the performance – especially the singer’s performance.  But I’ve come to believe that it’s neither the singer nor the song that’s the most important element of a record – it’s the arrangement.

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A song is somewhat analogous to a movie script, while a recording is somewhat analogous to a finished film.  The script may provide the essential plot and tone of a movie, but the final movie also depends on the actors, and the cinematography, and the musical accompaniment, and the editing, and so on.

A good script is neither necessary nor sufficient for a good movie – although it certainly helps.  (It’s not hard to turn a good script into a bad movie.)    

Likewise, a good song doesn’t guarantee that you will end up with a good record, and it’s possible to make a good record even when the song is nothing special.  The arrangement and performance are just as important as the song.

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Now that you know what a record is, we can define what a cover record is – and that’s exactly what we’ll do in the next 2 or 3 lines.

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“Key of Ego” was released by Personal Trainer – a seven-member Dutch band – almost exactly one year ago.

Personal Trainer

Here’s what Far Out magazine said about it:

“Key of Ego” also features droll lead vocals, skittering drums, heavy bass lines, quasi-DJ scratches, and lyrics that celebrate the excitement of bubble gum.  It’s a lot to take in, and I don’t think it would be humanly possible for the band to have their collective tongues stuck further into their respective cheeks.

And yet, I kind of love this song. I had a similar experience when I first heard Wet Leg’s “Chaise Longue”: I hated it at first, got really turned off by the playful elements that I found unfunny, and got so curiously put off that I had to listen to it again just to make sure I was actually hearing this sh*t.  And then I listened to it again, and then again, and again.

I had a different experience with both “Key of Ego” and “Chaise Longue” – I loved them both the first time I heard them on Drew Carey’s “Friday Night Freak Out” show on Sirius/XM’s “Underground Garage” channel.  (That’s unusual for me.  Most of the time, it takes several listenings for a song to grow on me.)

Click here to listen to “Key of Ego.”

Click here to buy the song from Amazon.