Bring Me the Horizon — Wonderwall (Oasis cover)
Screamo Oasis? That’s sure to piss some people off! Can’t wait for the Gallagher brothers to weigh in. This reminds me of Biffy Clyro’s highly divisive “Modern Love” a few years back. Not generally my genre of music, but I do love when a band takes a swing like this.
The Great Leslie — Fix You (Coldplay cover)
For a couple weeks this months, my Google Alerts were taken over by some TV-performance show called Chefsache ESC 2025. Which I’d never heard of, and still only vaguely understand what it is (some sort of Germany-only Eurovision?). It produced some wild covers though. The Feuerschwanz medieval-metal version of “Dragostea Din Tei” must be seen to be believed. But we’ve written about that song before—they released it on an album a couple years ago—so, instead, here’s a group called The Great Leslie performing Coldplay like they’re Franz Ferdinand.
J Mascis — Breathe (The Cure cover)
In a recent Uncut interview, Dinosaur Jr, leader J Mascis talked a bit about his unending admiration for Robert Smith. If you know anything about J Mascis interviews, you know that it’s not easy to get him to wax rhapsodic about anything, but that’s still how he feels about the Cure. Mascis said, “Robert Smith’s guitars have a washy sort of sound that encompasses you, and his voice has a great pure tone. I related to the music. It made me feel ‘Oh yeah, this is where I’m at, this guy’s out there feeling the same thing.’ It comforted me.” Now, about a year after Mascis released his solo album What Do We Do Now, he’s shared a new solo cover of “Breathe,” a song that the Cure released as a B-side to their “Catch” single in 1987. Mascis has completely remade the song, turning it from a gasping synth reverie into a ragged campfire singalong, but he’s somehow kept its spirit intact.
Jack White — Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young cover)
As part of the extensive Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary celebration, the show put on a giant concert at Madison Square Garden. Closing things out was frequent musical guest Jack White. He played “Seven Nation Army,” as you’d expect—but, more surprisingly, prefaced it with a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Young, incidentally, just announced he will soon be rockin’ in Ukraine. Bet he plays this song.
Mocky — Just a Little Lovin’ (Dusty Springfield cover)
“‘Just a Little Lovin’ has an important message that we could all hear more often,” Mocky says. “Leslie Feist introduced me to the song while we were recording her album Multitudes. I loved the original version – it’s a waltz in 3/4, but I found a way to flip it over a 4/4 backbeat which brought the melody into a new realm.”
Sia – Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel cover)
Enigmatic pop star Sia recorded her sleek and synthy version of “Solsbury Hill” with producer Greg Kurstin (also half of covers greats The Bird and the Bee), and she’s released it to raise money for Humane World For Animals, the animal-protection charity formerly known as the Humane Society. She even performed it live on Jimmy Kimmel.
Tanaw Collective — Landslide (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Tanaw Collective is a newly-formed supergroup of Filipina rock legends Acel Bisa, Aia de Leon, Barbie Almalbis, Hannah Romawac, Kitchie Nadal, and Lougee Basabas. Now, if you’re not from the Philippines, those names may not mean anything to you (guilty). But their first single, “Landslide,” is beautiful, featuring all their voices. In fact, they’d all individually covered it at some point or other before. “’Landslide’ is a song that we all know and love,” said Almalbis. “The first version I actually heard was the Smashing Pumpkins cover. I was in high school, and I immediately connected with it. The song’s themes of life, love, and the shifting seasons have only deepened in meaning for us as we’ve all grown older together.”
Wyn Starks — I Drove All Night (Cyndi Lauper/Celine Dion cover)
Watching the 2024 documentary I Am: Céline Dion, Wyn Starks discovered that Dion is a fan of his. At one point she is seen singing along to Starks’ 2020 single “Who I Am,” sharing that the song helped her cope with her Stiff-Person Syndrome diagnosis. Now he pays her back with a cover of her own hit, one first released by Cyndi Lauper. Stark says: “I’ve always been inspired by Céline Dion, and her music has been a guiding light for me through many challenges in my life. Seeing her sing ‘Who I Am’ with such strength and resilience, despite everything she’s facing, was a moment I’ll never forget. I still get emotional just thinking about it.”
The Best of the Rest
Butcher Brown — Dinorah Dinorah (George Benson cover)
Damiano David — Nothing Breaks Like a Heart (Mark Ronson ft. Miley Cyrus cover)
Casey Carmichael — Change the World (Eric Clapton cover)
Cody Jinks — It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll) (AC/DC cover)
Courtney Barnett — Lotta Love (Neil Young cover)
The Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir — The New Year (Death Cab for Cutie cover)
Kelela — Furry Sings the Blues (Joni Mitchell cover)
The KVB — Black Is Black (Los Bravos cover)
Lola Young — Close To Me (The Cure cover)
Lost Dog Street Band – Waiting Around to Die (Townes Van Zandt cover)
Lydia Loveless – What’ll I Do (Irving Berlin cover)
Maverick Sabre — Say My Name (Destiny’s Child cover)
The Ratchets — Policy of Truth (Depeche Mode cover)
Ruston Kelly – Complicated (Avril Lavigne cover)
Taleen Kali — #1 Crush (Garbage cover)
Check out previous months’ best covers lists.
