Steve Ciccarelli

Steve Ciccarelli is a freelance writer and occasional musician from New Jersey - Springsteen/Clerks Jersey, not Snooki Jersey. His favorite things are the part in "Over the Hills and Far Away" where the Les Paul kicks in, books, Bill Murray and Batman. Any cover of "The Weight" will make him sing the chorus harmonies at even the most inappropriate moment and he loves when bar bands cover Black Sabbath. His hobbies include falling on skateboards, being disappointed in jukeboxes and he was once Robert Smith for Halloween. His work has appeared in Esquire and on Splitsider. Follow him at @stevecic.

Oct 042011
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!

With their new collection, Major/Minor, Thrice have taken the strangest turn one could have expected at this point: not much of a turn at all. After a decade-plus of sonic soul-searching, the West Coast foursome have stuck to the guns they crafted on 2009’s Beggars. They’ve perfected their soulful alternative rock, although with an admitted grunge-era groove seeping in this time around. Continue reading »

Sep 142011
 

Fun, Sing in Japanese proves, is not language-specific.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are longtime punk stalwarts with a bent for alcohol consumption and other people’s songs. Their whole “career”–not that this is any of the Gimmes’ main gig (guitarist Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighters fame, bassist Fat Mike of NOFX and drug-fueled-antics-on-basic-cable fame)–has been based on the phenomena of the punk rock cover, a special breed of aural pleasure reserved for the…warped…part of all of us.

Sing in Japanese is another theme collection from the Gimmes like Go Down Under or Love Their Country, only these songs might be a little more foreign to you (I would say no pun intended, but after I realized that I was about to say it I went ahead and typed it out anyway, so there, cliche). Have you ever heard of Yoshida Takuro? Didn’t think so. Continue reading »

Aug 242011
 

Go put on “Gold Soundz.” Sunny alterna-pop at it’s finest, sonically summing up that twentysomething drunken summer spent at the moon tower. Feel the UV rays coming from the speakers. Did you ever think you’d hear a version you’d want played at your funeral?

Astrid Swan, already no stranger to the covers scene, looked to the catalog of one of the most revered bands in alternative music and put it through her Finnish-pixie prism. Hits (Pavement For Girls) is the result, as varied as it may be. The first question that comes to the male mind while letting Swan’s icily-expansive interpretations seep their way in: is this really how Pavement sounds to women? Continue reading »

Aug 172011
 

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

Once in a generation there comes a song so good, so perfectly written and arranged, that it transcends pure aural pleasure and becomes an anthem. The Band’s “The Weight” is one of those songs, without question – Easy Rider, anyone? If that doesn’t make you want to take a Harley across state lines, what would? Continue reading »