‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.
In a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone, here’s how Kurt Cobain described the genesis of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
“I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band—or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.”
Surprisingly, the Pixies’ most famous superfan – the man who said he should be in a Pixies cover band – never covered the Pixies. Nirvana were rarely shy about covering their influences, from the Vaselines to the Velvet Underground, but maybe the Pixies were just too obvious. Every Nirvana song, Kurt might have thought, was just a Pixies cover a few degrees removed.
That line of thinking didn’t stop many other artists, though. Pixies covers abound, both from obvious acolytes in the ’90s alt-rock scene to musician fans in other genres who found a way to make Pixies songs sound like bossa nova or doo-wop. We’ve narrowed it down to the best thirty for our list, below. We hope you la la love it.
PS. The artist for this month’s list was selected by our Patreon supporters. To have a say in who we tackle next, sign up for our Patreon here.
The list continues on Page 2.
“Where is my mind” again, by La Boca Abierta
https://youtu.be/UPSOCERijIM
Where Is My Mind by Nada Surf
There’s this guy, recently passed away. Kind off famous. Did a cover of Cactus. Fidn’t see David Bowie’s name mentioned
Alec Eiffel by Bunnies is one of the best Pixies cover ever.
andrew mccubbin – gauge away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXPayW-mAf4
Skeggs, here comes your Man
Think Micahs cover beats them all, but we are a little biased.
https://youtu.be/PqsImlsjFD8
Trampled By Turtles, Where Is My Mind?
https://open.spotify.com/track/2dJrn376fJPUCj1f4txnRQ?si=DEHcR2GLSu-9oHrtwjsjHg
Larsen – Where is my mind?
https://youtu.be/rC-lpX681pE
Krhissy’s cover of “Wave of Mutilation”
https://krhissy.bandcamp.com/track/wave-of-mutilation-pixies
The Get Up Kids – Alec Eiffel
https://youtu.be/OInieXoW71A
Break my body by Hanne Hukkelberg…
Loving that Kate Rogers cover!
Great list!! This whole post is a great soundtrack to a rainy morning!
Mr Hopkinson – Where Is My Mind?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcMWpe-LkOg
I Bleed by PsychoTrópicos
https://youtu.be/5c871P9qiqU
My favourite artists cover my favourite artists all the time but I’ve never heard of a single one of these 30 artists that covered my all time favourite, the Pixies. And I don’t remember the Pixies ever covering any of my favourites either. Very odd.
Kristin Hersh – Wave of Mutilation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p71JpIl5Ob8
There is some random dude out there named Matt or Michael who hires cover bands of artists to turn around and cover the Pixies.
Think Frank Sinatra coverband covers Monkey gone to Heaven
Maybe not the best, but damn good.
Best cover by Oryl – let me know what you think, I believe it’s much better than the original : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTUU8Ya-lYk