Electric Chairs - "Barbie Girl"

I haven't seen "Barbie", yet, anyway.  I suppose it's too big to ignore, and I'm sure Greta Gerwig and company have done a good job, but I guess I'm more of an "Oppenheimer" guy.  I can only assume that Aqua's 1997 minor hit "Barbie Girl" is featured in the film.  I got their debut LP. "Aquarium", based on the strength of "Barbie Girl", but I can't remember the last time I listened to it.  

I'll assume you've heard Aqua's version of the song: it's fun and cute, while remaining subversive.  But have you heard the cover by Electric Chairs?  They released an EP in 2001 of different mixes of the song.  I haven't seen that EP (there can't be many copies in existence), but I first heard this song on The Orb's excellent "Back to Mine" mix CD (check out the entire series).

The Electric Chairs version really brings out the disturbing, menacing, predatory element* that is present in the Aqua version, but a lot easier to miss.  When Aqua sings "Come on, Barbie, let's go party", it sounds like a dismissive critique.  When Electric Chairs sing "Come on, Barbie, let's go party", it's a threat.  And when the beat comes in (~2:38), it is simultaneously super cheesy and awesome -- a plastic but fantastic copy of what a dance beat should sound like.  

Electric Chairs - "Barbie Girl (TF Long Version)"

Aqua - "Barbie Girl" 

* I was tempted to draw a parallel to Sonic Youth's cover of the The Carpenters' "Superstar", but SY's cover changes the meaning of the song, inverting victim to predator.  I think the Electric Chairs cover just emphasizes the scathing commentary that was lurking under Aqua's Europop veneer.