Fountains of Wayne Archives

The Best Cover Songs of March 2025

Posted by Ray Padgett at 12:14 pm 1 Response »

Mar 312025

Cher — Walking in Memphis (Marc Cohn cover)

Cher’s pushing 80, but, as seen most recent on the SNL 50th concert, she can still command a stage like nobody’s business. At the recent Love Rocks benefit concert in NYC, she reprised her ‘90s “Walking in Memphis” cover, complete with full Elvis costume, pompadour very much included.

Dååth ft. Paul Masvidal from Cynic – Run (Air cover)

A heavy-metal cover of the least heavy group of all time (they are French, after all): Air. Dååth (you “know it’s heavy with that punctuation in the name) writes: “Our version of “Run” has been a long time coming. It’s a creepy, weird song I’ve wanted to cover since I first heard it… This is a weird song. If you haven’t heard it, listen to the original, then ours. To do it justice, we needed an unconventional mix that could also go full metal. Gautier Serre, of Igorrr, was the obvious choice. If he can handle Igorrr, he can handle this—and being French, he already knew the song. The result is truly unique. If you’re expecting pure extreme metal, you might be disappointed—and that’s fine, because we do what we want.” Continue reading »

Eve 6 Covers Len’s “Steal My Sunshine” and Wreckless Eric’s “Whole Wide World”

Posted by Luke Poling at 11:12 am No Responses »

Feb 252025

When it was announced last week that Fountains of Wayne were performing again and that Max Collins would filling in for the late, great Adam Schlesinger, fans of Collins’ band, Eve 6, would be forgiven for wondering where it left them. No need to worry as Eve 6 have released two separate covers for two separate projects.

The first cover is of Len’s 1999 hit, “Steal My Sunshine,” which features fictional character L1ZY from the group Big Data. And, in case you think all of this is kinda silly—don’t worry, the band does too. The track features two of the children of the band, cutting them down before listeners get a chance to. In fact, it opens with one child saying, “how come our dad is so old and he still plays alternative rock?” And then, once they hit the break, the voices emerge again. “Oohhh rock n’ roll, man,” one child intones. “Yeah, rock n’ roll, bro,” responds the other with giggles clearly highlighting the ridiculousness of the whole thing.

That said, it’s kinda fun. This isn’t a song that will change your life, but, the original wasn’t really looking to change minds, either.

The second song is a collaboration with Suzy True and their take on Wreckless Eric’s 1977 song, “Whole Wide World.” This song appears on the new compilation by Get Better Records to raise money Los Angeles fire relief. (You have to buy the record to hear that song, but the Len cover is below.)

Eve 6 is playing a few East Coast shows this month, and this summer are doing the festival thing, and working around Collins’ shows with Fountains of Wayne.

Boston Musicians Tanya Donelly & Bill Janovitz Cover The Kinks’ “Better Things”

Posted by Luke Poling at 8:00 am No Responses »

Sep 232024

In anticipation of live performances in the New England area, Boston indie rock royalty Tanya Donelly and Bill Janovitz re-released their recording of the Kinks’ classic “Better Things.” The duo originally issued the cover in 2015 on Bandcamp, which was quickly pulled down. This is the first wider release of the song. The two played shows in Maine and Rhode Island earlier this month. Continue reading »

The 50 Best Kinks Covers Ever

Posted by Staff at 10:35 am 1 Response »

Jun 212024

‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

If The Kinks had stopped after their first year, they’d still be legends. “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night,” two of the all-time-great sixties rock singles, were both released in 1964. That’s more classics in one year than most bands have in decades (and their year gets even better if you slide in January 1965’s “Tired of Waiting for You,” recorded before “All Day Etc”).

But if The Kinks had stopped after their first year, this list certainly wouldn’t run 50 covers deep. Because, of course, they didn’t stop. They kept releasing hits, including Top 10s in both the ’70s (“Lola,” “Apeman”) and ’80s (“Come Dancing”). Maybe even more importantly, they kept creating, kept innovating, kept pushing forward, not settling into retreading their early garage-rock sound. That wide breadth gets reflected in the Kinks songs that artists covered. The big hits, of course, are well represented. But so are plenty of album cuts and singles that “flopped” at the time but were rediscovered years later.

Ray Davies turns 80 today. So today, we celebrate his birthday—and his ability to withstand decades of interviews about whether he and brother Dave will ever reunite—with our countdown of the 50 Best Kinks Covers Ever.

The Best Covers of 2000s One Hit Wonders

Posted by Staff at 12:00 pm No Responses »

Sep 112023

‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

Following the 1990s last week — and, before that, the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s — our series on covers of great One Hit Wonders concludes today with a look at the 2000s. Meaning, the first decade of the 2000s. At this point, it’d be premature to conclude that an artist who had their first hit in 2022 will be a one hit wonder! (And, again, it’s not us concluding it anyway — it’s Wikipedia). Continue reading »

The Best Cover Songs of June 2023

Posted by Ray Padgett at 9:00 am No Responses »

Jul 032023

Aaron Taos ft. Jordana — Under Control (The Strokes cover)

Aaron Taos says: “When Jordana and I met for the first time, we realized very quickly that we both shared an obsession with the Strokes. What’s more surprising is that we also share the same favorite Strokes song, “Under Control,” an album cut off of their second LP Room On Fire. Naturally, we decided that we had to cover this amazing tune. Reimagined as a minimalist duet, this slow burn produced by Blake Richardson (formerly artist Sage Baptiste) also comes with a lo-fi vid shot in Brooklyn, NY. We just want to make Julian Casablancas proud.” Continue reading »