Jan 302026
 
The Best Cover Songs of January 2026
The Beaches — I Ran (So Far Away) (A Flock Of Seagulls cover)

The Beaches released one of the best albums of last year with No Hard Feelings. Now they’ve followed up with a Flock of Seagulls cover. Why? Why not! They don’t veer too far away from the original arrangement, but add an extra dose of indie-rock crunch. Halfway through it gets a little more shoegazy and expansive, with a huge build.

The Damned — Making Time (The Creation cover)

This deeper cut is a high point of the Damned’s new covers record, which, per our review, “takes the song into near heavy metal territory, if leavened by the catchy choral chorus, which, especially with the bass and drums, comes over like the Who in their prime.” Continue reading »

Aug 132025
 
Peter Capaldi and Franz Ferdinand

You might know Peter Capaldi from TV shows such as his role as the twelfth doctor in Doctor Who or the thriller Devil’s Hour. But the Scottish actor and director is now dipping back into the music world. Accompanied by Franz Ferdinand, he performed The Cure’s iconic track “Friday I’m In Love” on Glastonbury’s Other Stage. Continue reading »

Mar 312025
 
Best Cover Songs
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 »

Dec 022024
 
franz ferdinand good luck babe

Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos described Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” as “an amazing song by an amazing artist.” The group recently performed “Good Luck” at a Sofa Session on BBC Radio 2, hosted by Jo Whiley. “It’s funny,” Kapranos told Whiley, “you get some artists that have a moment, often it’s kind of divisive. Some people absolutely love them and some people hate them. But I’ve not come across anybody I know, none of my friends, nobody I know, who doesn’t like this artist. They’re just so good.” Continue reading »