There is a new British TV series called The Hack about the hacking scandal that led to the downfall of the tabloid The News of the World and for music fans, the opening credits feature Pulp with a new cover. The show’s credit sequence is scored by Pulp’s newly recorded cover of Johnny Cash‘s “The Man Comes Around.” Continue reading »
“It’s My Party” was the bigger hit, but these days it feels like “You Don’t Own Me” gets covered more. It’s become something of a feminist anthem (probably an unlikely future for “It’s My Party”…). Dollyrots singer Kelly Ogden said, in sharing her band’s new revved-up cover, “The song is an anthem for female empowerment, about willing to be defiant in the face of something that’s just plain wrong. Sadly, it’s still just as timely as when Lesley sang it over 60 years ago.”
Remember “Sex on Fire”? Gotta be one of the dumbest singles of the 21st century. Folk Bitch Trio covered it for Like a Version, and they, against all odds, manage to redeem it. “It’s an underrated song,” they said. “It rocks. It’s filthy without you really knowing. The Folk Bitch Trio twist is kind of easy: We just sing it in three-part harmony, lock in, look at each other and we’re there.” Continue reading »
Texan hard rock band Nothing More has released a new cover of Nine Inch Nails‘ “We’re in This Together,” 11 years after they first tried tackling the song. Continue reading »
Latvian heavy metal band Iron Wings has released a new cover of the Nine Inch Nails song, “Hurt,” as a stand-alone single.
The song balances itself between the NIN original and the probably better known Johnny Cash cover version. Starting slow, like both versions, this take starting slower and atmospheric before transforming into something more in keeping with Iron Wings’ sound at the end of the first verse. They also decided to use the Cash version of the lyrics (Johnny going for an “crown of thorns,” instead of Trent Reznor’s “crown of shit”). This version also amps up the tempo as the song moves along.
The band also released a lyric video, which relies mostly on still photographs and some video of the band working in the studio as well as performing live.
In releasing the song, the band said, “The song was originally written by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. One of the most famous covers of the song “Hurt” is performed by musician Johnny Cash. We, the band Iron Wings, want to present this song as a reminder that each of us has gone through or is going through our own struggles and this song will mean something different to each of us.”
New Jersey-based nu metal band Uncured have announced a new EP coming out early next year and the record includes a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer.”
It’s a tough song to cover, given the ubiquity of the original, but brothers Rex and Zak Cox were excited for the challenge of paying tribute to NIN, all the while making sure the Uncured sound came through. “It was so good and iconic that we weren’t trying to recreate it,” said Rex. “We were trying to pretend that song was written for us. I’m personally excited about how many different vocal tones and voice and kinds of sounds are on it.” Continue reading »
‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.
As regular readers know, here at Cover Me we put together a Best Covers Ever list every month for a celebrated artist. We’ve recently done the Pet Shop Boys and Sheryl Crow. And before them we did the biggie – The Beatles – and before them, Bob Dylan! But every now and again, there’s a particular genre that’s crying out for the Best Covers Ever treatment – and this month it’s the Dark Genre. It’s goth!
So why now, you ask? Are goth covers really a thing? And why don’t Alien Sex Fiend or Fields of the Nephilim have their own Best Covers Ever features?
Fair questions, all. First off, goth music is everywhere right now. It may have emerged out of the UK post-punk scene and enjoyed its most innovative period from 1980 to 1982, but it’s now the reason we have Whitby Goth Weekends in April and November (well, that and Count Dracula), World Goth Day on May 22, and goth nights down the Hatchet Inn in Bristol most nights, particularly Thursday. It’s also why we have heaps of goth books on the market right now, from John Robb’s The Art of Darkness to Lol Tolhurst’s Goth: A History and Cathi Unsworth’s Season of the Witch, all trying to explain goth’s lasting influence as a musical subculture: the fixation with death, the dark theatricality, the Victorian melodrama, the leather, the thick black eyeliner, the fishnet tights, the deviance, the sex, the deviant sex, and, of course, spiders. Continue reading »