Riley Haas

Riley is a digital marketing trainer and strategist in Toronto. He obsessively writes and talks about music and once had a classic rock radio show in university. His favourite cover of all time is Uncle Tupelo's version of the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog." He's also a movie fan, having seen approximately 4,400 films. You can follow him on Twitter @riley_haas.

Tony Molina Covers Nico for B-Side of New Covers Single

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May 222026
 
Tony Molina

So the story of German singer-songwriter Nico‘s solo debut album is that members of The Velvet Underground, to whom she’d been attached by their patron Andy Warhol, did not appreciate her presence in the band. However, they were willing to help her perform live as a solo act and would help with her solo debut. And they weren’t the only ones, as Tim Hardin, who already had a solo career, and Jackson Browne, who was only writing songs for other people at the time, and who was then dating Nico, also were performing with her. Nico had yet to write her own music so Browne, Hardin and Lou Reed and John Cale of the Velvets all contributed songs to her debut. (There’s also a Dylan cover.) Continue reading »

Nicholas Krgovich Records Stripped Down Cover of “Hungry Heart”

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May 192026
 
NICHOLAS KRGOVICH

You might think that Springsteen’s first Top 5 was “Born to Run,” especially if you weren’t alive in 1975 like me. After all, it’s a Top 5 most streamed song of his. However, it took The Boss another five years after “Born to Run” – which only made #23 – to make the Top 5. He did it with “Hungry Heart,” the lead single and biggest song from The River, his fifth album and first double album. Apparently originally written for the Ramones, Springsteen recorded it himself because his manager was tired of him giving away his upbeat songs to other artists. Continue reading »

Eddie Skuller Records Tasteful Cover of Tom Waits’ “Downtown Train”

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May 152026
 
Eddie Skuller

The most commercial song Tom Waits ever wrote after his 1983 career transformation into the man we know and love, “Downtown Train” was actually a Top 3 hit for Rod Stewart in 1989. Patty Smyth and Bob Seger also had minor hits with it, in 1987 and 2011 respectively. Safe to say it’s not exactly Waitsian.

So I guess the question for those covering “Downtown Train” is whether to follow a famous cover version or Waits’ obviously rougher original. Singer Eddie Skuller, who has been active for decades but has released relatively little music under his own name, opts for a middle course. In 2025 he released an EP of Waits covers but “Downtown Train” was not on it. Instead, he’s put it out now. Continue reading »

Harboured Release Sludge-Metal Cover of The Faint

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May 062026
 
Harboured

The Faint emerged from the Saddle Creek Omaha scene, which most notably produced Conor Oberst (a former member of The Faint). “Agenda Suicide” was their first widely released single, even though it’s on their third album. “Agenda Suicide” and their later singles helped briefly popularize electroclash, a fusion of punk/new wave/post-punk and dance music that was briefly everywhere in the early to mid aughts.

Harboured are an atmospheric sludge metal band from Denver. Atmospheric sludge metal is a spacier, more ambient form of sludge metal that sometimes veers into what is known as post-metal. Continue reading »

Blood Vulture Record Clean Vocal Cover of Converge’s “You Fail Me”

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May 042026
 
Blood Vulture

“You Fail Me” is the title track from Converge‘s fifth album and their (relative) commercial breakthrough, released over 20 years ago. Converge aren’t a band we’ve spent a lot of time on here at Cover Me as they’re metalcore, an abrasive hybrid between contemporary metal and hardcore punk. Though extremely prolific for the first decade-plus of their existence, few bands have taken on their songs because, well, they’re metalcore.

Blood Vulture are an alternative metal/doom metal project which debuted last year. We’re getting into metal arcana now, but the short version is that doom metal is a more traditional form of metal than metalcore – doom metal dates from the ’80s, metalcore from the mid to late ’90s – and “alternative metal” just means metal bands that take things from non-metal genres and add them to their sound. And no, it wouldn’t be normal for a doom metal band from the ’80s to cover a metalcore band. But, of course, Blood Vulture are a new project. Continue reading »

The Tubs Release Jangly “Fade to Black” Cover

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Apr 302026
 
The Tubs

“Fade to Black” is Metallica’s first ever ballad. Though never released as a single, it is now a Top 10 song for the band in terms of streams. As their first ever ballad, it set the template for their later, more accessible sound. Even though it’s more accessible for a Metallica song of its vintage, it’s still a little bit of an odd cover for a jangle pop band. Continue reading »

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