Feb 032025
Oct 312022
Avril Lavigne & All Time Low – All the Small Things (Blink 182 cover)
One way you can tell millennials are getting old: There are now nostalgia-bait festivals catering to the music of their (our) youth. Such was the case with When We Were Young, the emo and pop-punk fest in Vegas a couple weeks ago with Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Bright Eyes, and dozens more. A video high point is this extremely fun and infectious cover of “All the Small Things” by All Time Low and Avril Lavigne, performed right after Blink 182 announced they were getting back together. Best part: When the entire crowd hollers alone to “Work sucks / I know”! Continue reading »
Dec 132019
In 2019, Cover Me wrote about more new covers than in any year in our 12-year history. I know; I checked the numbers. Our News team wrote amazing stand-alone stories on sometimes tight deadlines, adding context and research beyond “here’s a new cover” quickie. Plus, we rounded the best of the best into monthly 30+ lists, and added even more for supporters of our new Patreon. Even our Features team, who ostensibly couldn’t care less whether a cover came out last month or last century, seemed to be constantly finding new things to slip into their deep dives.
The point here is not to toot our own horn… well, that’s not entirely the point. What I want to do is emphasize just how high the bar to appear on this list has been set. Calling these covers great almost does them a disservice. There were way more than 50 great covers in 2019. In fact, we’ve already got 150 more bonus tracks lined up for Patreon supporters (which, I know I mention it a lot, but it’s how we keep this site afloat, so please consider supporting us if you like what we do). Honestly, we could throw all of the above in the trash and still come up with a pretty impressive batch of 2019 covers. But these 50 below – these are the cream of the crop, the belles of the ball, the toppermost of the poppermost.
You won’t agree. I guarantee it. As you go through this list, there will be at least one cover you hate. Maybe more than one. And if you followed cover news yourself this year, you’ll probably be outraged when a personal favorite placed too low, or didn’t make it at all. Great! That’s the beauty of these lists: It’s all opinion. Extremely educated opinions in our cases – I can pretty much guarantee that we collectively listened to more 2019 covers than any other site out there – but opinions nevertheless. So dive in and discover something new. Then help us discover something new by adding your own favorites in the comments.
– Ray Padgett, Editor-in-Chief
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Jul 022019
When singer-songwriters cover rappers, the results can be cringe-inducing. For every Gourds, there’s a dozen Karmins – groups wink-wink-nudge-nudging at a different culture without much thought or respect given. (Plus, far too many of them cheerfully quote the n-word.)
Rayland Baxter’s new Mac Miller tribute EP feels like a different beast entirely. For one, the late rapper sang himself, which helps others’ versions of his songs avoid the rap-cover clichés of ironically slow-crooning tough rhymes over a ukulele or something. For another, Baxter’s appreciation for Miller’s work runs deep. His tribute comes from a place of real respect, and sadness at a promising young talent gone far too soon. Continue reading »
Feb 042019
In his recent memoir, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy philosophized on how online streaming has changed the way artists get their inspiration. “Anyone can access any era of music at any time,” Tweedy wrote. “So instead of being influenced only by the recordings and generations of musicians most accessible and obtainable to study, musicians today can draw upon almost anything ever recorded.”
These sentiments rang especially true when I first heard Rayland Baxter’s 2018 album Wide Awake. Listening to the record is like taking a trip through Baxter’s musical education. One can detect elements of alt-country rock, blue-eyed soul, new wave, the solo works of various Beatles, all sung with the confidence of a ‘70s singer/songwriter at the Troubadour. Hearing all these musical styles smash together, it makes sense that he was able to cross four decades with two covers. During a recent performance at Paste Studios, he played songs by Neil Young and the late Mac Miller. He took two serious tunes from very different artists and reworked them in his own way to make them seem lighter and definitely more fun.
Jan 112016
Let me state, for the record, that I am a Billy Joel fanatic. I have seen “The Piano Man” in concert more times than I have fingers to count. I have purchased every song that he has ever recorded – including his stuff with The Echoes and The Hassles. Heck, I almost named my first daughter “Alexa”, because that’s Joel’s daughter’s name (my wife put a stop to that however).
Needless to say, I am very protective and picky when it comes to Joel covers. So when I heard that some hip-hop artist from Pittsburgh – Mac Miller – covered my second favorite Joel song, “Vienna”, I immediately assumed I would hate it. And I was right.
But then I listened to it again. And again. And again. Continue reading »