Nov 012018
 

‘The Best Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

best nirvana covers

Nirvana released its first single 30 years ago today. Well, today-ish. That single was the first installment in the now-legendary Sub Pop Singles Club, so I imagine its “release date” was whatever day it landed in the mailbox for the 1,000 lucky people who got it (you can get it too, but you’ll have to drop $3,300 on Discogs).

And what was that very first Nirvana single? Whaddya know, it was a cover! The band launched their recording careers with “Love Buzz,” originally by Dutch psychedelic-rockers Shocking Blue. Not the most obvious start for the most iconic band of the ’90s (apparently it was Krist’s idea). Already a staple of their raucous live show, “Love Buzz” did represent, according to Sub Pop founder Bruce Pavitt, “an indicator of some of their direction in songwriting.”

Three decades on, that songwriting has generated a few covers of its own. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has of course been covered thousands of times, but some other Nirvana songs aren’t as far behind as you might think. “Lithium,” “Come As You Are,” and “In Bloom” remain perennial cover selections, and “Territorial Pissings” seems surprisingly popular. (“Rape Me,” not so much.) Heck, half the artists we hear covering David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” or Leadbelly’s “In the Pines” seem to really be covering Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged versions.

So today, we continue our Best Covers Ever series by whittling down the moshing masses of Nirvana covers to the best thirty. Here we are now. Entertain us!

Honorable Mention: Nirvana – Lithium

No, not that Nirvana. The 1960s British band of the same name covered “Lithium” when they reunited in the 1990s. A cute nod, made less cute when you realize this older group had sued over the grunge band’s use of the name only a few years prior (Sub Pop reportedly had to pay them $100,000). At any rate, this Nirvana’s cover is not that good, but this psych-pop spin on “Lithium” perhaps paved the way for a much better version in the same vein a few years later. But we’ll get there… Continue reading »

Sep 232011
 

Nevermind turns 20 tomorrow and the Nirvana covers celebrations just keep coming. Two days ago, we heard the whole album covered by a lineup of Seattle all-stars. Now, music blog Beached Miami brings together another full-album set. Nevermind Miami features all Miami artists and the clear standout is Rachel Goodrich tackling “Territorial Pissings.” Continue reading »

Jun 102011
 

Rachel Goodrich seems to have a taste for the oldies these days – oldies in the back-in-the-day sense of the word, before the radio stations falling under that umbrella could have ever claimed the ’80s. Earlier this week, she released a cover of Johnny Cash‘s 1955 classic, “Folsom Prison Blues,” and yesterday she returned with the 1965 Shangri-Las hit, “Out In the Streets.” Continue reading »

Jan 212011
 

Quickies rounds up new can’t-miss covers. Download ‘em below.

• For years being in an Apple ad was the pinnacle of sell-out success. But what about all those other smart phones? Surely they deserve their own indie-breakout soundtracks. Well, Rachel Goodrich’s Micachu and the Shapes cover was featured in a Blackberry ad last month! The song? “Golden Phone.” Here’s hoping that pays the bills.
Continue reading »