The Best Cover Songs of January

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Jan 312022
 
best cover songs january 2022
Butcher Brown ft. Alex Isley – Best Friend (Brandy cover)

Virginia jazz collective Butcher Brown throws it back to ’90s R&B with this cover of Brandy’s 1994 slow jam “Best Friend.” Though it’s a little out of their usual wheelhouse – for one, it has a singer, Ernie Isley’s daughter no less – they ably blend their own leanings with the retro soul-pop feel. If you like this, don’t miss their rooftop NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

Kate Clover – These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ (Nancy Sinatra cover)

“If Suicide produced a Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood song” is a hell of a tag line, and Kate Clover’s “These Boots” delivers on that premise. The menacing guitar seems pulled straight from “Frankie Teardrop,” while Clover’s vocals channel Sinatra’s swagger. Bonus points for the fun Twin Peaks-esque video. Continue reading »

Amythyst Kiah Delivers a Gorgeous Acoustic Cover of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

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Jan 202022
 
amythyst kiah love will tear us apart

For non-fans, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is the only Joy Division song. Released well after lead singer Ian Curtis’ suicide, it was their first single to make the main UK chart and any US chart and so it is, for most people, Joy Division’s one hit. (Unless you live in New Zealand.) Fairly uncharacteristic of their sound (it sounds more like New Order), its success is the kind of thing that annoys fans of influential cult bands who have one mainstream hit. But it’s their hit and so it is Joy Division’s most-covered song many times over. Continue reading »

That’s A Cover?: “Love Will Keep Us Together” (Captain & Tennille/Neil Sedaka)

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Mar 292021
 

That’s A Cover? explores cover songs that you may have thought were originals.

Captain Tennille

If asked to pick a song that best encapsulates the swinging ’70s in all its shag-carpeted, Pet Rock’d, earth-shoed glory, you’d be hard pressed to find a better specimen than the Captain & Tennille’s 1975 #1 hit “Love Will Keep Us Together.” Infectious, bouncy, and supremely sticky, sounding like both a commercial jingle and the kind of thing a Disney World in-house performing arts ensemble would include in the love-themed portion of their act (see the legendarily tacky incredible-ness of “Up With People,” or even better, The Simpsons‘ reimagined take “Hooray For Everything“), it was POP with a capitol P and Proud of it. “Love Will Keep Us Together” was the musical embodiment of everything the Captain & Tennille seemed to be about, a mission statement if you will, a song so aligned with their whole persona, so custom fit to their sugary weirdness, that even 45+ years later it’s still hard to believe it was a freakin’ cover.
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Isis Offshoot Mustard Gas and Roses Create Intense Cover of Joy Division’s “Exercise One”

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Nov 182020
 
mgr exercise one

Mustard Gas and Roses, otherwise known as M.G.R, the side project of Michael Gallagher formerly of defunct post-metal band Isis, covered Joy Division’s “Exercise One” on their new EP We Are One. The cover leans on overdriven guitar twisting the song into a more metal framework. The heavy guitar pushes open the song like a large wall of sound, with each guitar part given a different voice, adding to the creeping melody. Continue reading »

Saint Vitus’s Wino Turns Joy Division’s “Isolation” Into a Backwoods Blues-Rocker

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Apr 302020
 
wino isolation cover

It seems like everyone is covering Joy Division’s “Isolation” these days. (That or John Lennon’s song of the same name.) The second track from Joy Division’s second and final album feels extremely appropriate to our times. Even if singer Ian Curtis’ lyrics don’t map directly onto our self-isolating/physical distancing world, it’s still easy to see why people find resonance in the song. And it’s not just the lyrics – the droning bass, the eery too-high synth melody and clicky electronic drums make it feel as though Curtis really is trapped somewhere unpleasant. Continue reading »

The Best Cover Songs of April

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Apr 302020
 

Check out the best covers of past months here.

best cover songs april 2020
Arlo Parks – Redondo Beach (Patti Smith cover)


I’ve wanted to do a “Full Albums” on Patti Smith’s Horses for years. But it, and she, gets covered less than you’d think. This beautiful piano “Redondo Beach” gets me one step closer. Though, admittedly, I already had Courtney Barnett’s recent cover for that slot. Someone cover “Break It Up” already! Continue reading »

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