A few weeks back, Dresden Dolls teamed up with This Way to the Egress to give an incredibility unique gift to the world. The gift came in the form of a cover which they performed in Washington DC. The two groups covered Rage Against The Machine’s hit, “Killing In The Name Of.” The original song was released in 1993, and used punk themes, metal motifs and a rock aesthetic to deliver a hard-hitting in your face anthem about anarchy, annihilation and protest. It was an instant hit that continues to played over radio waves today.

The Dresden Dolls, comprised of multi-instumentalists and fellow Boston natives Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione, and This Way To The Egress provided a very different spin on the song. The song transforms to a much more hip and upbeat song through the replacement of the bass with a trombone, tuba, violin and accordian. This Way, which consists of Taylor Galassi (lead vocals, accordian, piano), Sarah Shown (vocals, piano, violin), John Wentz  (tuba, backup vocals), Joe Lynch (trombone, backup vocals), Jaclyn Kidd (guitar, banjo) and Nick Pecca (drums and percussion), give the song a ragtime/swing spin. The Dolls in turn provide their classic style of “punk cabaret,” and maintain the original guitar riffs and drum beats. The result is one of the most innovative covers of the song.

Amanda Palmer has been busy delivering some powerful political videos lately, but this cover is actually in the same vein. Palmer took to Facebook to share how the song is relevant for today: “…but now you know…these words take on more and more harrowing relevance.” Palmer, The Dolls, and This Way expertly updated the anarchist song for our modern climate.