Trans Volta
Disco Computer b/w You Are Disco
scum stats: there’s a bunch of variations of this thing, all seemingly available at reasonable prices
I love soundalikes. I have FOND memories of being in the backseat of my mom’s car on a last-minute, school night adventure to the northern world of Frankenmuth. My brother had started making mix tapes and popped one of his creations in. And I was so stoked to hear a Beatles song I’d never heard before. “Lies” (by the Knickerbockers) is so 100% quintessentially biting on every last bit of Beatles trademarks, I was incredulous with my brother when he explicitly told me that the Fab Four was not the group on the recording. The ensuing argument lasted for a handful of interstate miles at or around the speed limit in a 1995 Ford Taurus.
(side note: Bronner’s and Zehnder’s and the Birch Run outlet mall were all closed by the time we got up there, probably 7:30-8pm on a weekday. We stopped and ate at Halo Burger, which claims to be the oldest burger chain in the country, then went to the gas station next door and loaded up on snacks and trinkets that all seemed different from what we were used to seeing two hours south in Detroit. And then drove all the way home. My mom felt like she failed, trying to do this spontaneous, grand gesture and ultimately landing on fast food and a Mobil. But to a one, me my siblings and I had a BLAST and to this day I still reminisce about this unique adventure)
The idea behind a soundalike is what really gets me thinking. Were the Knickerbockers explicitly trying to sound like the Beatles? And if so, did they have a specific or general reference point? And say now, almost sixty years later, is sounding like the Beatles even a thing? Or are the Beatles just considered “good music”?
I know nothing about Trans Volta except they sound a shit ton like Kraftwerk. To the point where there’s no real doubt, they were trying to ape the groundbreaking German combo.
That being said…I still quite like it. I mean, Kraftwerk is genius, using that as a template, there’s a lot of built-in perfection.
This 45 goes straight in the DJ box and I fully anticipate folks asking “What the hell is this?” - OR - “What Kraftwerk album is this on?”
Mention your favorite sound-a-like in the comments, with some sort of description or story (or not) and I’ll send someone a free record that may or may not sound like something else.
After reading the ROTW write-up I asked Alexa to play Lies by The Knickerbockers. It has to be the Beatles in disguise. If not, why did these guys not have some level of fame for sounding like The Beatles? Also, agree with the Frankenmuth/GVF reference. Speaking of Beatles sound alikes how about The Wonders from the Tom Hanks movie “That thing you do”. It must have been a tribute to the Beatles by Hanks, right?
Visting Frankenmuth and asking about bands that sound similar to something else? That is a total lead on to Greta Van Fleet comparisons (yes already mentioned….but the destination of your adventure…I mean…c’mon). Runner up…“Die Trying” by Art of Dying. First listen sounds like an alternate take of Disturbed doing “Down With the Sickness” (right down to the drum intro)!
Greta Van Fleet and Led Zeppelin. The first time I heard Highway song, I was in awe, wondering when Zeppelin released a new album. Now that I’ve listened more, I can totally hear the differences but I love telling people Zeppelin released new music and then playing GVF for them.
I think The Morning Yells ep Proper Wilted (2017) could easily be mistaken for The War On The Drugs. The same laconic vocal stylings with the identical use of keyboards. Only a touch more acoustic on guitar than The War On Drugs. Seeing them at the end of the month opening for Ocean Alley. Hopefully they’re able to replicate The War On Drugs stellar live show.
Klaatu…! I was 16 years old when their first album was released. I remember vividly the rumors that it was a reunited Beatles doing an anonymous album because they wanted to see if the sound was enough to sell albums without the name “The Beatles” attached. I ran out and bought a copy (still in the vinyl collection today). About half way through I was arguing with my older brother because I thought it sounded nothing like The Beatles. He was convinced it could be The Beatles trying to do something different; sort of testing the market for a new sound to see if people would like it.
Andrew BB Odom. My dad picked up his LP “Sings and Sings and Sings the Frank Walker Songbook” at a flea market for a couple of bucks. He knows I play BB King albums regularly, so the next time I saw him, he put it on to screw with me. He got me, but I got the record.
a little bit different than a sound-alike, but here’s something. I was working a fireworks stand with my brother over the summer about 12 years ago. I hadn’t listened to much classic rock at all at the time, so he’s playing all this music I’ve never heard. the Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc.. I had very eclectic musical tastes but I was very into the Beastie Boys at the time. my brother starts playing some Zeppelin and my ears shoot up. I’m like “oh yeah! I love the beastie boys!” thinking he had started playing “Rhymin and Stealin”. The look he gave me was close to disgust after the first 10 or so seconds when the Zeppelin guitars kick in on “When the Levee Breaks”. I look back fondly on this little lesson on music sampling.
Alex Ebert’s “Glimpses” sounds amazingly like Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.”
Alex Ebert’s “Glimpses” sounds amazingly like Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You.”
Beck’s Debra is incredibly Prince like in all the best ways for me.