Sick Puppies “Ready Steady Go” 

It feels as though skyscraper-like melodies are casting a menacing shadow over the city streets below as we listen to the opening bars of Sick Puppies’ “Ready, Steady, Go,” a cover of the Paul Oakenfold staple, and in their vague darkness, we find energy that screams to the narrative of the song as it’s been reimagined here – hockey season is finally upon us.

The band starts to play in the background, starting with a constricted vocal that will set the haunting tone for every ounce of mayhem that’s about to come barreling out of the silence just moments from now, and our vocal protagonist begins the task of passing his message to every person who passes him by. His efforts are intermingled with an instrumental drive that matches the undertow of most ESPN programming, let alone the spirit of what’s about to come next. We’re not even sixty seconds into “Ready, Steady, Go,” and already this group has got us right where they want us; planted in front of the provocative images soon to be gracing our screens. 

URL: http://sickpuppies.com/

There’s something motivational about the spectacle that this new single from the iconic alternative metal outfit contains, and you don’t have to be ascribed to one sports ideology over another to appreciate the substance of what Sick Puppies is trying to tell us in the adjoining lyrics here. Even though the words were penned by Oakenfold, they have a distinctly unique substance in this setting that wasn’t present in the original version. From how I interpret the entire narrative as we find it here, I think that the band wants us not to consider who is leading the way in the world at the moment, but where we’re being directed to, regardless of anything else on the table.

There hasn’t been a time in recent memory as plagued with international controversy as the present has been, and it’s a safe assumption to make that, no matter what part of the earth you call home, you’re more likely to have felt the burden of such conflict than not. “Ready, Steady, Go” isn’t about placing blame or waging a war against one group over another; this track is about hope, strength through adversity, and consistently believing in something rather than fighting over anything – which is what has brought so many fans into the ESPN fold over the years. Sick Puppies is giving us a public service announcement in this song, originally penned as a simple promo, and it just so happens to be accompanied by the kind of deafeningly distorted melody that 2022 needed to feel complete.  

“Ready, Steady, Go” concludes amidst clouds of metal-inspired smoke, a bold reference to some of the best music to come out of the band’s Australian homeland amid all of the tensions that the hard rock community has witnessed coming to a head in the last couple of years, and even after the music stops, the lingering thrust of the beat remains present in the air around us for quite some time. I wasn’t sure what I was going to see when I was told to check out this new track from Sick Puppies and ESPN, but I’m pleased to say that what they’ve created in “Ready, Steady, Go” goes above and beyond what the status quo for modern sports music requires. This is a sophisticated cover song that demands a reaction out of anyone listening to its biting lyrics, and its drive is absolutely what makes it one of my picks for the hottest new rock cover of the season.  

“Ready Steady Go” concludes amidst clouds of metal-inspired smoke, a bold reference to some of the best music to come out of the band’s Australian homeland amid all of the tensions that the hard rock community has witnessed coming to a head in the last couple of years, and even after the music stops, the lingering thrust of the beat remains present in the air around us for quite some time.

SMART URL: https://lnk.dmsmusic.co/readysteadygo

I wasn’t sure what I was going to see when I was told to check out this new track from Sick Puppies and ESPN, but I’m pleased to say that what they’ve created in “Ready Steady Go” goes above and beyond what the status quo for modern sports music requires. This is a sophisticated song that demands a reaction out of anyone listening to its biting lyrics, and its drive is absolutely what makes it one of my picks for the hottest new rock release of the season. 

Mindy McCall