Nov 012021
 
the best cover songs of october
Andrew VanWyngarden – Dance Monkey (Tones and I cover)

One of the biggest one-hit wonders of the last few years, pop singer Tones and I’s “Dance Monkey” emerged out of seeming nowhere to top charts across the world last year. In her home country of Australia, it is the longest chart-topper ever, breaking a record held by Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”! Despite its ubiquity, however, major covers have been sparse (perhaps because many people find the song, you know, annoying). Never one to shy away from putting off his audience, though, MGMT frontman Andrew VanWyngarden gave it a trippy psychedelic-folk cover as part of a radio station fundraising challenge. Continue reading »

Sep 302020
 
cover songs september 2020
Amigo the Devil – Before He Cheats (Carrie Underwood cover)

When we last heard Amigo the Devil, he was stripping down a Tom Jones song to create a haunting murder ballad. Now he does the same to another highly polished pop song – but a much more recent one. “[The original is] this very confidence-boosting, really good-feeling, power-infusing song,” Amigo’s Danny Kiranos told Rolling Stone. “I was curious what it would sound like if you took away the positive nature of it and kept the lyrics, essentially the emotions they are portraying.” Continue reading »

Oct 212011
 

Based on the ridiculously enthusiastic reviews their brand-new album Days has garnered, expect to be hearing a lot more about Real Estate going forward. That holds here as well, since they’ve both produced and inspired some quality covers of late. Exhibit A: Their cover of the Strokes’ “Barely Legal.” Exhibit B: Laura K’s cover of their “Beach Comber.” Continue reading »

Sep 132011
 

Brooklyn psych-pop band Real Estate have been slowly building buzz for months now, but London-via-Brisbane songwriter Laura K thinks they should be bigger, faster. That’s the premise behind her cover of “Beach Comber” at least, recorded for a free EardrumsPop single. The web-only record label asks participating artists to record a cover by an artist who deserves wider recognition, and while most of the choices are really obscure, this one gives a hat tip to indie fans who’ve been paying attention. Continue reading »

Aug 102011
 

The story goes that in 1975 Neil Young recorded “Powderfinger” as a solo acoustic song years before release. He sent the song to his friend Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd, who planned to record the song on their next album. The song was never recorded due to the tragic accident that took the lives of three Skynyrd members. Neil then released his own electric version of the song on the 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps with band Crazy Horse. Continue reading »

Jul 262011
 

July is becoming a big month for free anniversary full-album tributes. Last week SPIN gave us their tribute to Nirvana, and today Stereogum surprises us with Stroked, a collection of covers from the Strokes’ game-changing debut Is This It. Eleven indie icons and upstarts cover every song on the album, just as they did with Radiohead’s OK Computer. Continue reading »