Asher White — Casper (Jessica Pratt cover)
Why does Asher White have a record titled Jessica Pratt? Because, as it turns out, it is a full-length cover of singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt’s 2012 debut record—which happens to be self-titled. Pratt herself approves: “White’s curiously inventive renditions took me by surprise,” she said in a press release. “A broad sweep stylistically and production-wise. Not just homage, but a record in its own right.”
The Belair Lip Bombs — Happiness (The 1975 cover)
“It was the first single that came out of their latest record and I just listened to it for like two years straight,” singer Maisie Everett said of the 1975 song the band covered on Like a Version. “I still do.”
Carter Faith — Fame Is a Gun (Addison Rae cover)
At this year’s Grammys, Addison Rae opened the Best New Artists performance package writhing in a loading dock to “Fame Is a Gun.” It would be hard to ride to rising country star Carter Faith’s cover. Wistful and slow, she sounds mournful about fame even as she’s trying to achieve it. With dates coming up opening for Post Malone, Chris Stapleton, and George Strait, she might be there soon.
DOWN — Right Place, Wrong Time (Dr. John cover)
Veteran New Orleans metal band DOWN celebrated Mardi Gras with a cover of their late fellow traveler (in locale, if not genre) Dr. John. The video celebrates the season, with a couple Mardi Gras Indians joining the heavy festivities.
Gogol Bordello — In Dreams (Roy Orbison cover)
When you think of Roy Orbison’s beautiful singing, the first genre that comes to mind is probably not gypsy-punk. But gypsy-punk pioneers Gogol Bordello tackled it for AV Undercover, paying tribute both to Orbison and to David Lynch, who as frontman Eugene Hutz notes used it in Blue Velvet. “Obviously I can’t sing in that kind of range,” he adds (who can?), but says he aimed to do a genre-crossing version like Shane MacGowan and Nick Cave doing “What a Wonderful World.”
Greg Loiacono & Stingray — Nothing Can Come Between Us (Sade cover)
“I’ve been in love with Sade since hearing her for the first time as a kid in the backseat of my mom’s Chrysler Cordoba,” says Loiacono. “Something about hearing her voice and the band moved me deeply then and still does today. So when our drummer Michael Urbano brought ‘Nothing Can Come Between Us’ to the table as a cover for Stingray, I was delighted.”
King Ultramega — Preaching the End of the World (Chris Cornell cover)
Plenty of artists cover songs Chris Cornell wrote, but they’re typically, you know, Soundgarden songs. Props to heavy music supergroup King Ultramega for digging deeper by covering a Cornell solo track. Though they should know it. The lineup rotates, but on guitar for this track is Pete Thorn, who played in Cornell’s solo band. It sounds like a lost Soundgarden classic, and is a good reason to investigate the lesser-known Cornell solo work. Well, maybe not the album he did with Timbaland…
Matthew Ryan Jacobs — Never Tear Us Apart (INXS cover)
Canadian singer Matthew Ryan Jacobs dropped this on a deluxe edition of his self-titled EP (first I’ve ever heard of an EP getting a deluxe edition). He wrote:
“Never Tear Us Apart” is a song I have loved for as long as I can remember. My older sister had Kick on a cassette as a kid, and remember always listening to this song on little 80’s boom box in her room. I’ve covered it live a few times over the years, and decided to give it try in my studio.
I started out with the piano part in the beginning, I’m not much of a piano player, but I love old Wurlitzer sounds and organs. So it was me experimenting with sounds. Once I had a base sound with that, it was a lot fun to add all the guitars and the solo. Once I had a rough sketch I sent it to Ryan Enockson at The Warehouse in Vancouver, and he and Hayden Watson recorded the drums. Ryan did a great job on the mix, and Bryan Lowe did the final master at Joao Carvalho Mastering that really brought it to life. I tried to stay fairly true to the original in terms of arrangement and how the song builds, but used the sounds and vibe that I would have used if I had written the song myself.
Sombr — Man I Need (Olivia Dean cover)
“It feels so timeless and I love the production, I love the lyrics,” Sombr said of the song by recent Best New Artist winner (beating him, in fact) Olivia Dean. “Everything about it. Amazing.”
The Best of the Rest
Bryant Barnes — Don’t Dream It’s Over (Crowded House cover)
Chat Pile — Sifting (Nirvana cover)
Dragon Chopstick — Yoshimi (The Flaming Lips cover)
I’m With Her — Obvious Child (Paul Simon cover)
Jessica Lea Mayfield & Dolour — Why Bother? (Weezer cover)
King Princess — Au pays du cocaine (Geese cover)
The Linda Lindas — California Sun (The Ramones cover)
Middle-Aged Queers — Fade Into You (Mazzy Star cover)
MJ Lenderman — The French Inhaler (Warren Zevon cover)
Mumford & Sons — cowboy like me (Taylor Swift cover)
Parker Woodland — Police on My Back (The Equals cover)
Pulp — The Day Before You Came (ABBA cover)
Puscifer — Congregation (Low cover)
SNACKTIME — Fly Like an Eagle (Steve Miller Band cover)
SPRINTS — Deceptacon (Le Tigre cover)
St. Jimi Sebastian Cricket Club — So Long, Marianne (Leonard Cohen cover)
Wisp — Last Night on Earth (Green Day cover)
Check out previous months’ best covers lists.
“California Sun” is itself a cover by the Ramones . . .