The Best Cover Songs of June & July 2026

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Aug 032026
 
Alexis Taylor & Mike Simonetti — I See a Darkness (Bonnie “Prince” Billy cover)

Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip released an amazing electropop cover of “Wild Horses” earlier this year, and now he’s back with a similar take on Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s most-covered song. He writes, of the mesmerizing music video, “I saw the room that we see in the film — the scene, the two men facing each other and getting closer in their armchairs as the intensity of what they sing to each other increases. I saw the lady at the centre and back of the same space, illuminated by lamp light for the choruses, and the red balloon hovering over the 4 people in the scene. I wanted this to be like a televised Samuel Beckett play, and to be surreal, simple, and emotionally direct.”

Bandit Voyage — Hotel California (The Eagles cover)


It’s hard to do a fresh version of “Hotel California,” but Swiss duo Bandit Voyage pull it off on their new EP. They ditch many of the theatrics, stripping it down to sound more like a DIY indie-rock song. It’s The Eagles if they played a basement show. Eventually a hyper-distorted guitar does come in to play the closing solo, but even that feels done with a bit of a wink. Continue reading »

Death Cab for Cutie Cover Hüsker Dü During SiriusXM Appearance

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Jun 302026
 
Death Cab for Cutie Cover Hüsker Dü

Death Cab for Cutie has a new album out titled I Built You a Tower. So, of course, the band has been doing a variety of interviews and appearances to promote the record. Lead singer/songwriter Ben Gibbard, along with keyboardist Zac Rae and guitarist Dave Depper recently appeared on SiriusXM, and, during their appearance, they played a cover of Hüsker Dü‘s “Green Eyes.” Continue reading »

“Death Rock” Band Final Gasp Covers Hüsker Dü’s “The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill”

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Jun 142022
 
Final Gasp

Hüsker Dü’s sound helped define post-hardcore in the ‘80s – if they didn’t invent it outright – and, for better or worse, helped give birth to emo. Though pretty under-known, they were one of the most influential American “punk” bands of the ’80s. “The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill” is one of their poppier and more straight-forward numbers from their third album, New Day Rising. But much of its commercial appeal is sapped by the band’s rather um…let’s call it “deliberate,” production. Continue reading »

Covers of Anthony Bourdain’s Favorite Punk Songs

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Jun 082018
 
anthony bourdain music

Others can offer more on Anthony Bourdain’s massive impact on the worlds of food, or travel, or recovery, or just living life to the fullest. But anyone who followed his work closely knew in additional to all that, he was a music superfan. He adored 1970s punk from his early days working in New York kitchens in particular; he wrote a must-read essay on that thirty years later for SPIN.

So we’re going to pay tribute the only way we know how: With covers of Bourdain’s favorite songs. Which we know from playlists he made over the years for Rolling Stone and KCRW. We hope he would have liked these covers of the soundtrack to his life. Continue reading »

Pick Five: Wussy

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May 172018
 

In Pick Five, great artists pick five cover songs that matter to them.

wussy cover songs

Next year marks the fiftieth birthday of Robert Christgau’s “Consumer Guide” record reviews. His blurbs pioneered the idea of giving albums letter grades, and he’s graded thousands over the years. In the 2010s, though, he’s only awarded a coveted A+ four times. The recipients: A Tribe Called Quest, Laurie Anderson, Vampire Weekend, and… Wussy. As if that wasn’t high enough praise, in that Wussy review for 2014’s Attica! he dubs them “the best band in America.”

He’s not alone, either. This Ohio band, based around the duo of Chuck Cleaver (formerly of Ass Ponys) and Lisa Walker – middle and left in that top photo, respectively – has become a critics’ darling in recent years. Their new album What Heaven Is Like should only continue that trend. Billboard’s already called it “a concise 10-song meditation on hope and fear,” and it doesn’t come out until tomorrow.

Two of those ten songs are covers, the first time the band’s included any on a proper album. Not that most listeners will probably realize that they’re covers; these music superfans dig deep into the vaults, covering cult favorite folkie Kath Bloom’s “Oblivion” and 1970s garage rockers The Twinkeyz’ “Aliens in Our Midst.” Listen to the latter: Continue reading »

In Memoriam: Grant Hart (Hüsker Dü)

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Sep 182017
 

In Memoriam pays tribute to those who have left this world, and the songs they left us to remember them by.

Grant Hart

Last week Grant Hart, who first won fame as the drummer for Hüsker Dü and went on to release music on his own and with Nova Mob, died of liver cancer at the age of 56. His bandmate Bob Mould, with who he shared a fractious but fruitful relationship, paid tribute by calling him “a gifted visual artist, a wonderful story teller, and a frighteningly talented musician. Everyone touched by his spirit will always remember.”

The list of those touched by Hart’s spirit number in the thousands upon thousands – not just the legions of fans who latched onto his songs back in the ’80s, but the musicians who were inspired enough by his work to cover it. What follows are some of those covers – and one cover of Hart’s.
Continue reading »

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