I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad cover of a Daniel Johnston song. His music just works so well for cover versions. It might be the sparse nature of most of his songs, leaving other artists able to interpret the source material however they want.
The latest band covering one of the songs from Daniel’s vast back catalogue is recently reformed Canadian indie-rock band The Unicorns. Recently seen supporting fellow countrymen Arcade Fire, the band are re-issuing their lost indie classic ‘Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?’ and will be including this cover of ‘Rocketship’ as a bonus track.
There is definitely a Daniel sound retained with this, with the repetitive single note so common with some of his early songs present. In fact, it sounds more like Daniel than most other covers of his songs you’ll hear (although this TV On The Radio cover sounded great using the repetitive note thing too).
This is a great addition to the many covers of the cult hero that are out there and if you listen carefully there’s even a sample of the great man himself at one minute and 50 seconds in.
Check it out below and keep your eyes peeled for the Unicorns re-issue due soon.