10 Covers I Listen To More Than The Originals

Here they are  01 Avengers - Paint It Black 02 Game Theory - The Letter 03 Slickee Boys - Glendora 04 Sneetches - He's Frank 05 World of Pooh - Druscilla Penny 06 Feelies - Dancing Barefoot 07 Brood - You Got Me 08 Tav Falco - Oh, how she dances 09 Camper Van Beethoven - O Death 10 Meat Puppets - Good Golly Miss Molly I avoided the tribute records (as the most tracks on them are recorded just for the project) as well as the versions of traditional songs (with the exception of O Death, but this was a cover of Kaleidoscope's version) Avengers - Paint It Black Blasphemy you say? Listen to these teenagers (I think they were 18-19 years old) and then tell me if you've ever witnessed such power in the pure, honest voice of Penelope - so self-confident even from the start -, the nerve of a young punk band to cover this song and make you accept their version, and the absolute killer finale - a black hole that spins and spins and sucks everything, leaving only the rattle of drums at the end. I consider this song as the proof that the Avengers did actually teared the Sex Pistols to pieces in the Winterland show, in Jan 1978. No Avengers records are in print these days, but you can ask Penelope for a CDR. Game Theory - The Letter (from Dead Center LP) That's the perfect power pop song from the perfect power pop band. Scott Miller took this classic and treat it with enormous love. I bet he himself wouldn't know how many times he'd listened to it and this is obvious here: This is not anymore Alex Chilton's song, it's Scott Miller's. Sadly Scott considers Game Theory a story of the past and thinks there's no reason to re-release their output, so all these amazing records remain unknown to the newer audiences. Slickee Boys - Glendora (from Uh Oh...No brakes LP) I imagine these gyus performing this old Perry Como tune in their shows, after they'd exausted their audience with a bunch of their garage-punk songs. Not that they're going far from garage-punk with this: the drums are pounding , the guitars are loud and fuzzed as ever and the vocals have nothing to do with mellow - in fact they definately had listened a lot the Downliners Sect version (which remains the best). Sneetches - He's Frank (from He's Frank 12') This cover shows how absolutely brilliant band the Sneetches were. They've earned the right to look the Monochrome Set streight in the eyes: more melodic, not so tense as the original, but equally powerful. The arrangement is full of fine touches (organ, faint rock'n'roll pianos), the guitars are ringing with a crisp and clear sound and I must tell you that I like Sneetches electrical no-holds-barred guitar solo in the final part, better than the rather sudden ending of the original. Brood - You Got Me (b side) This is what I've said about this in 7 X 7 is - U.S. garage singles pt.2, about this Prodigal's cover: There's much music from the Brood from Portland, Maine in this blog, but I thing that they never again captured on vinyl like on this single, especially on the non-LP b-side 'You Got Me'. In this track (the original, by the Prodigal, can be found in Boulders vol.9) the garage rhythm of guitar, bass and drums gets a psyche treat by the haunted farfisa and above all the teenage voice of Chris Horne spits out all the energy and feelings like no rich-and-famous rock star can. Just great. Feelies - Dancing Barefoot (from Bob flexi) Yeah, I know the vocals cannot match Patti Smith's original, but the band - oh this band! When you listen to this absolutely stunning version, you'll not even thing about vocals: the rhythm section is something I wish I'd watch live (but thanks to my friend gomonkeygo I've had the chance to listen how it was) and gives the guitar the freedom to do its magic. This is history: not only for the classic original but for all the different sides of the alternative/guitar rock that the Feelies put in it. The final point is the spoken vocal part over the derrailed band playing at the end of the song. World of Pooh - Druscilla Penny (Banafish 7') Rarely you find a cover that while remains close to the original, it cancells it at the same time. Your family’s probably given up on you Since you began to follow groups of long-haired rock'n rollers I can hear your mother crying for her daughter The Caprenters' song stands with the -let's say- parents/normal society side, while the World of Pooh cover clearly stands in Druscilla Penny's side. Not only the music here is this of "long-haired rock'n rollers" - of the psychedelic type I would say, but while Barbara Manning sings the same lyrics, without changing a single word, she manages to make you see the song through the girl's eyes. I've always believed that Barbara not just sings, but rather IS her songs, only this time she proved that can do it with other people's songs. Tav Falco - Oh, how she dances (from The Red Devil LP) This I guess will give the necessary odd touch to this collection: it's a cover of James Luther Dickinson's song from the cult "Dixie Fried" from 1972. Surely this Tav Falco's version got more known than the original (which remains unmatched).  This song needs a story teller and Tav could easily be a great one. Behind his dangerously charming vocals (different from Dickinson's harsh voice), Panther Burns rattle and shake their instruments, in this invitation to the circus freaky world. Camper Van Beethoven - O Death (from Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart) I find CBV's version of this traditional song as 'full' and imaginative as Kaleidoscope's version, after all we're talking about two of the best eclectic bands of all times. Of course that one was done 30 years earlier, so there must be something more in the newer version to justify its inclusion: Campers moved from the folk roots of this song even further than Kaleidoscope, they gave us a more rockin' version. They retain the violin (how could they stop Jonathan Segel?), they added horns and louder drums, yet this is flowing nicely like the stream finds its way between the rocks. I'm very happy because this record is again available -it was CVBs debut on Virgin, and one of the few exceptions to the rule that all  records of underground bands made on major labels are crap - it's easily the band's best. Btw Camper Van Beethoven are together again - details here. Meat Puppets - Good Golly Miss Molly (from Out My Way EP) If you listen to this one twice in a row, you will feel exausted, like you've been running all day. You've never heard such a frenzyfied version of Miss Molly (which is frenzied enough in its Little Richard version). It starts by hitting you with an unbelievably energetic guitar riff, and while Curt stops for a breath, after the first verses, his guitar becomes a huge truck, rolling down from a mountain with no breaks, just honking to clear the road. You can imagine how this ride ends. Here's the link, if you're interested.