Feb 132015
 

Some covers are more equal than others. Good, Better, Best looks at three covers and decides who takes home the gold, the silver, and the bronze.

Gorillaz, the superband partnership between Blur’s Damon Albarn and Tank Girl comic artist Jamie Hewlett, mixed up indy rock and trip-hop and became the best-known cartoon band since Jem and the Holograms. Albarn and Hewlett would keep the revolving door on Gorillaz open, working with Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg, and De la Soul, among others; Albans insists that despite rumors of a falling out with Hewlett, Gorillaz is still swinging after more than a decade. They remain best known for “Clint Eastwood,” their first single from their first album. Let’s take a look at some of the better covers of this college classic.

The Naosol and the Waxx cover is good.

Deltron 3030 is better. Man, is it better.

And the Trey Anastasio Band cover is the best.

Naosol and the Waxx blend are a humorous acoustic folk duo (no, not that one) from the land of Charlie Hebdo. After the banjo surprises us with an intro, Naosol (Guillaume Héribert) does a capable job of keeping up with the words with frequent peppering from his partner. The crispness of the live session performance adds to its excellence.

Del the Funky Homosapien threw words on “Eastwood” originally, but here he beams in Deletron 3030 to help invade Earth. Always with an eye on entertainment, Del’s performance is a little mush-mouthed here, but his energy and the arrangement with an 18-piece symphony in Berlin gets everybody jumping the couch. Add some amazing turntable antics from Kid Koala and you have a completely different spin.

There’s one reason Anastasio’s version rocks: Jennifer Hartswick. Anastasio takes the back seat and gladly lets his horn player take over the rapping verses, but instead, she sings, belting out the lyrics to the delight of the crowd.

Gorillaz will release a new album sometime in 2016.

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