Burt Bacharach's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart,"
performed by The Wondermints

Forget Ms. Psychic Friends Network Dionne Warwick's lame-ass B-side off "Trains and Boats and Planes."

The Wondermints, best known for writing and performing "Austin Powers" for the first movie's soundtrack, bring a lovely dreamlike quality to the song, but keep its cheesy lounge sensibility.

This version, off of What the World Needs Now: Big Deal Recording Artists Perform the Songs of Burt Bacharach, uses a phone's busy signal as its bass line and it only gets better from there. A high-pitched, dreamy vocal threads itself around '60s keyboards, gentle drumming and horns that belong in a cocktail lounge.

It's no wonder that Brian Wilson raves about The Wondermints, who often moonlight as his backing band. Its members take a modern approach to producing old pop music and, furthermore, they understand the fine line between adulation and irony and know exactly how to straddle it, which makes this cover so excellent.

Sure, it's still cheesy, but would you want Burt Bacharach served any other way?

— Stephanie Kuenn (smkuenn at gmail dot com)