Take Cover: No Doubt's 'Settle Down'
Rolling Stone's Jenny Eliscu grades the YouTube stars covering today's hot songs
Rakai Whauwhau, Shaquille Paranihi-Ngauma, Takiri Southon
Three stoner-looking dudes from New Zealand do a modestly filmed performance of the tune, harmonizing over basic acoustic guitar strumming. The whole video has such a chill vibe from the get-go that it's impressive when they start harmonizing and sound like they've clearly practiced plenty. (You can imagine these three busting into a capella jams at parties.) Southon struggles a bit to hit his high notes, but the other two dudes nail their solo parts – Paranihi-Ngauma, especially, with his smooth vocal runs. They don't have very many covers yet, but they do feature a nice rendition of Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" and I hope there will be more to come.
Presentation: B-
Performance: B+
Most Popular
We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.
