Mar 312026
 
best cover songs
Anna Prior — No More Drama (Mary J. Blige cover)

Metronomy drummer Anna Prior is back with a new EP, Firefly. The first single is a cover of the Mary J Blige classic. “I’ve wanted to do a cover song for a long time and I just never found the right one that fit with my sound,” Prior wrote. “The overall tone and feeling of the original fit so well with the ‘A minor’ theme of the EP that I just couldn’t resist. It’s a song that shaped my late teenage years and I really hope I’ve done it justice and I don’t get sued.” [Editor’s note: You won’t. That’s not how covers work…]

Bonnie “Prince” Billy — Trustfall (Pink cover)

Last December, the prolific Bonnie “Prince” Billy hopped onstage with Yo La Tengo to cover—of all people—current Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee Pink. The song was a pretty deep cut too, a single from 2023. Will Oldham must really like that song, because he’s returned to it again in a solo incarnation. As if that combo wasn’t wild enough, add this one: This video was recorded at the early 18th-century pub The Lamb in Bloomsbury London, regular haunt of Charles Dickens. Continue reading »

Mar 202026
 
Sammy Kay

Van Halen’s biggest ever hit is, of course, more known for its famous synthesizer part than it is for its eponymous band leader’s guitar playing. That is ironic, I guess. It’s one of those songs where the lead melodic part is so central to our conception of the song, it’s sort of hard to think about it without it.

Sammy Kay is a singer-songwriter and former touring musician from New Jersey. He describes his sound as “folk punk” but that’s just to explain his raspy voice. His sound is classic folk complete with tape hiss. Continue reading »