Quickies: The Darcys, Paper Crows, Wooden Wand, Pascal Finkenauer, The Last Names

Quickies rounds up new can’t-miss covers. Download ‘em below.

• Toronto quartet the Darcys recorded a full-album cover of Steely Dan’s Aja, which they’ll release later this month. For now, they released their version of “Josie,” trading in the original’s reggae-funk for an echoing, ambient-folk vibe. We can’t wait to hear the rest.
MP3: The Darcys – Josie (Steely Dan cover)

• London electropop duo Paper Crows have been getting some buzz across the pond and just released a free Smashing Pumpkins cover for the new year. They keep the basic melody, but add lush production behind. They released a more danceable Kate Bush cover last month that we’ve got too.
MP3: Paper Crows – Disarm (Smashing Pumpkins cover)
MP3: Paper Crows – Cloudbusting (Kate Bush cover)

• “Echoes” isn’t exactly the easiest Pink Floyd song to cover. However, on a recent Kickstarter campaign, Wooden Wand offered anyone who gave $275 the choice of a cover. Perhaps eager to get his money’s worth, one fan requested the 23-minute “Echoes.” Toth stripped it down to a sprightly 9:43, which still left him plenty of time to get spacey.
MP3: Wooden Wand – Echoes (Pink Floyd cover)

• Hamburg singer/songwriter Pascal Finkenauer posted this gorgeous, stripped-back Stone Roses cover to Soundcloud a few days ago. Most of his originals are in German, but with “I Wanna Be Adored” he shows he can deliver English-language covers that stick with you.
MP3: Pascal Finkenauer – I Wanna Be Adored (The Stone Roses cover)

• Brooklyn indie rockers Bishop Allen are laying low these days, but bandmembers Justin and Darbie Rice have a new project: The Last Names. They’ll be covering a new song, every week, for all of 2012. From the sounds of the first two, it’s going to be a very good year.
MP3: The Last Names – The More I See You (Chris Montez cover)
MP3: The Last Names – So Far Away (Dire Straits cover)

Check out more Quickies here.