30. Ducks Ltd. ft. Lunar Vacation — Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken (Camera Obscura cover)
When English songsmith Lloyd Cole penned “Are You Ready to be Heartbroken?” with bandmate Neil Clark in 1984, he really started something. First, a devastating pop record credited to Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, with killer lyrics, to conclude the most glorious of debut albums, Rattlesnakes. Second, a cover of it by ’60s icon Sandie Shaw in 1986. Then a devastating answer song by female-fronted Scottish indie band Camera Obscura in 2006: “Lloyd, I’m Ready to be Heartbroken.” And now, in 2025, a devastating cover of that answer song by Toronto rock duo Ducks Ltd., together with Gep Repasky of Atlanta band Lunar Vacation.
It’s a cover that evolved out of Ducks Ltd. performing the song live to receptive audiences on their last tour, which helps explain the rawness of it. The Canadian/US ensemble drop the ornate and sweeping “twee pop” vibe of the original, in favor of a wonderfully upbeat C86 feel, with jangly guitars, unpolished vocals, and gritty, lo-fi dynamics all the way. Tom McGreevy and Repasky, at the heart of it all on vocals, perfectly capture the naiveté of the song’s narrator who “can’t see further than my own nose.” — Adam Mason
29. Cemetery Skyline — I Drove All Night (Cyndi Lauper cover)
There are three beloved and very successful takes on obsessive pop horndog “I Drove All Night.” They are all very different.
The song was originally written for legendary angel-voice Roy Orbison by the genius songwriting duo of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. Orbison recorded the song in 1987, but it ended up being shelved and didn’t receive an official release until 1991, after Roy had passed. In 1989, while Roy’s fine version languished in the vault, Cyndi Lauper recorded the song and took it up a sonic notch. Her anthemic, amply-synthesized, Ray Ban-wearing, top-down-driving, immaculate ’80s-radio cherry cover sped straight on into the pop top ten in both the U.S. and U.K. Both Roy and Cyndi were lapped, however, by none other than Celine Dion, whose seriously cheeseball but extremely popular dance version from 2003 got to number one on the Canadian pop chart. It’s nowhere near as good as the Roy and Cyndi versions, yet it remains the most popular version of the song.
Which brings us to the perfectly named Cemetery Skyline. The Finnish-Swedish goth metal band’s cover of “I Drove All Night” is a slow locomotive of riffage and sweet keys. It sounds like a cheerful Sisters of Mercy track with both a pinch of Billy Idol and a dash of Depeche Mode thrown in for good measure. This cover doesn’t sound remotely modern. And that’s a big part of what makes it so lovable. Please enjoy the most perfectly awesome, black-leathered ’80s cover of 2025. — Hope Silverman
28. Kathleen Edwards — Crawling Back To You (Tom Petty cover)
The easygoing deep cut from Tom Petty’s Wildflowers gets even mellower on Kathleen Edwards’s recent Covers EP. Edwards is mostly faithful to the original, but of course her beautiful voice can’t help but reframe the song. What leaps out most for me is the pedal steel work sliding in over Edwards’s gentle strumming. I immediately looked up who the player was. I should have guessed: the great Greg Leisz. (He contributes to other tracks on the album as well.) Covers is self-released by Edwards, and it’s notable for interesting song selections penned by the likes of R.E.M., Jason Isbell, John Prine, and [checks notes] Supertramp. — Tom McDonald
27. Orchid in the Ivy — Beds Are Burning (Midnight Oil cover)
Brett Scharf, the lead singer of punk band Orchid in the Ivy, identified with Midnight Oil’s “Beds Are Burning,” because its message of Aboriginal Australians being displaced from their land due to coal mining and other commercial activities resonated across the world to the situation in his native Kentucky. He first recorded the song more than a decade ago, with a different band and singer, but they broke up before it could be released. Orchid in the Ivy’s cover is harder, faster and, yes, punkier, than Midnight Oil’s original, released in 1987 on Diesel and Dust, which broke the band worldwide and helped publicize the issue of indigenous rights. Considering the state of the music world today, it is unlikely that Orchid in the Ivy’s cover will have the same effect (either on their careers, or politically), but it has become one of the band’s most popular tracks, and their live crowds enjoy it. — Jordan Becker
26. Margaret Glaspy — Have You Ever Seen The Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
On her all-covers album Golden Heart Protector, this is the one track that Margaret Glaspy performs solo, without a guest star. Maybe that’s incidental and immaterial, but maybe it means a lot, like she has drawn the curtain to get more intimate and confiding. It seems like the latter to me. She slows the tempo down to a crawl, and the feelings sure feel real. She layers on piano and then brooding organ as the song unfolds, creating a mood suggestive of stormy emotional weather moving in. — Tom McDonald
25. Kaitlin Butts — The Middle (Jimmy Eat World cover)
The original version of this song is my personal anthem, and I’m always on the lookout for a cover that puts a new spin on its rallying message. In this country version, there is a simple twang and barely-there acoustic guitar strumming. The pacing is unrushed, providing a laidback and calming effect, right to the hummed ending. But just because this is an easygoing cover, that doesn’t mean that the crucial guitar solo is omitted. Here it provides a more soulful, sitting around the campfire ambiance, instead of the original’s wailing shred. — Sara Stoudt
24. nothing,nowhere. — HOT TO GO! (Chappell Roan cover)
For anyone who assumed Chappell Roan was just gonna be a 2024 thing, well, she wasn’t. She is now officially ubiquitous, an artist that even your parents and grandparents have seen, heard and, oh yes, maybe even love. For proof of her ubiquity, look no further than the continuing onslaught of Roan covers that surface week after week. There are no less than three (!) covers of the queen’s tunes in our 2025 countdown. The middle child in our trio of faves is nothing, nowhere. a.k.a. Joseph Edward Mulherin’s take on the empowering, joyfully demented, queer-pop cheerleader chant “Hot to Go.” A highlight of his will it emo (vol.1) cover album featuring, you guessed, emo-style versions of classic pop tunes, it is sensitive and earnest and handsomely guitar-ed—until it isn’t. The last minute is a screaming monster in power and pain. Hot. — Hope Silverman
23. K.Flay — Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! (The Beatles cover)
It’s been a dense year for news. We have all been through a lot. Early in the year, the disastrous fires around LA were a justified focus of attention. From that some people, as some people regularly do, came together to do something and come up with a fundraising album of new work, for the benefit of the victims. This comes off such a tribute.
K.Flay aka Kristine Flaherty plays with the idea of harlequinade as a mechanism to support the needy, but is not mocking or judgmental. When John Lennon wrote the song he did not know the reasoning why Mr. Kite needed a Benefit, all he had was an old circus poster as inspiration. This version is thoughtful and beautiful in equal measure. — Mike Tobyn
22. Steve Knightley with the Winter Yards Band — The Boys Of Summer (Don Henley cover)
Steve Knightley has form with this song, it being one of several covers that his “old” band, Show Of Hands, would liberally sprinkle into their live set, the song transforming particularly well to their fluid acoustica, Knightley’s strong voice just right to convey the yearning wistfulness of the song. But Show Of Hands are no more (or, at least, are on a hiatus). So he has had a run of solo shows including this song, and now he has formed this new band. We know he can do the song, but the surprise is the transformation that electric guitar, stand-up bass and drums can give his delivery, providing a dense muscularity akin to the original, in volume if not necessarily stylistically. The bass ripples gloriously, as cymbals crash, with shards of treated guitar wafting over Knightley’s voice and acoustic guitar. Now the song of an older, wiser man than was ever Don Henley, it reeks of bittersweet experience. — Seuras Og
21. Timothée Chalamet — Outlaw Blues/Three Angels (Bob Dylan covers)
Timothée Chalamet earned an Oscar nomination for his role as Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown. Not only did he turn in an amazing performance in the film, but he also sang music for the soundtrack. Equally impressive was his appearance on Saturday Night Live in early 2025, where he dropped the Dylan shtick and performed a series of Dylan covers as himself. In his first musical slot, he played a smash-up of two songs, starting with a rowdy, alt-rock rendition of the Dylan electric cut “Outlaw Blues,” then shifted gears for a soft, spoken word take of “Three Angels.” For good measure, later on in the show he played an acoustic cover of Dylan’s “Tomorrow is a Long Time.” It was a performance worthy of the one they also call the Muad’Dib. — Curtis Zimmermann
My cover of the year has to be Fontaines DC’s take on Bring Me The Horizon’s Can You Feel My Hear (with a sprinkling of Nirvana for good measure) but it’s all subjective of course. Once again you’ve delivered us with a cracking run of covers throughout the year and a list of gems to round it off. Thank you and have a great Christmas.
I just discovered this site two weeks and its given me the precious gift of music. I’m the only member of my family who is still ambulatory this holiday season; the shadows grow for Generation X. Just wanted to pass on some drunken thanks as I listen to Ghost Town and I Want to Know What Love Is.
I’m from a mining town so I won’t pretend to spar with urban hipsters, so I’ll vulgarly suggest Newer Wave|Newer Wave 2.0 and Projekt’s Xmas covers because they are up there with ‘I’m Your Fan’ in my nostalgia books.
As always: Death to the Anglo-American Empire – but peace and goodwill to all the people within the dying belly of the beast. Music is our solace, salve and prod.