Archie and the Bunkers
Play the Damned EP
scum stats: my copy on black, apparently there’s a limited quantity on black with red and yellow splatter
If middle fingers on the front cover didn’t piss me off or have me rolling my eyes, then that’s saying something.
What can I say, I’m a sucker for younger folks playing rock and roll. The drums/organ, big brother/little brother duo of Archie and the Bunkers are good. Their heads seem on straight, they’re influenced by all the right shit from the past. And I honestly think that if they keep at it, they will make something GREAT.
As for Damned covers, they dug a little below the surface, ignoring the obvious covers like “New Rose” or “Neat Neat Neat” and I have to give ‘em credit for that. I never spent much time with the Damned, really just a little bit with the first album. So besides the lead-off track, these songs are all kinda fresh to me.
I think the band is still figuring things out and I predict in another year, two tops, they will put out a masterpiece. Until then, this record (and the rest of their increasingly-expanding catalog) serve as moderate placeholders.
In my never-ending quest to keep you weirdos engaged, post in the comments about your favorite releases where one artist covers exclusively another artist. Don’t just LIST something, convince me as to why it is important. Can be Pussy Galore doing Exile, Sonic Youth doing the Fall, Dylan (or Willie) doing Sinatra, whatever. Maybe turn me on to something I’m unaware of? Anyway, most enlightening comment (as determined by me) gets an original Sub Pop pressing of the White Stripes covering the songs of Captain Beefheart. See the connection there? Deadline is a week from today, so get your shit in here already.
Bobby Womack cover of California dreamin by the mamas and the papas,not that often a cover is better than the original,as time passes more songs and artists are forgotten as different generations pass.cover versions give insite to younger music lovers and preserve artists legacies.
When it comes a release of an artist covering another artist my first thought is always Colin Meloy of The Decemberists and his “Colin Meloy Sings …” series.
It all started in 2005 with “Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey”. 6 Morrissey songs taken by Colin Meloy and transformed into acoustic folk indie rock Decemberists-y sounding anthems.
2006 brought “Colin Meloy Sings Trad. Arr. Shirley Collins”. Oh boy you have to listen to this one! English traditional folk songs covered by a Portlandier. Highly influenced the band’s recent release under the alias Offa Rex (The Decemberists with Olivia Chaney)
Moving on to 2008 with “Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke”. Soul/Blues father Sam Cooke songs interpreted by Colin. Another must listen.
And closing this series with the 2012 release “Colin Meloy Sings The Kinks”. British Rock’nRoll/Garage from the 60s brought in the new century by Colin Meloy.
All 4 releases self released on CD. What a shame. Maybe TMR will release them on vinyl one day.
Pearl Jam/Matt Cameron covering “I Love You All the Time” and “Want You So Hard” by Eagles of Death Metal. 7" vinyl, 2015.
I certainly don’t want to discount all the bands (I think I counted 41 on the website?) that made covers of “I Love You All the Time,” but I think Pearl Jam might be the only ones that put it out on vinyl with another cover. I love Pearl Jam and I love EODM, so it’s perfect for me, but it’s definitely way more than the music that makes this one so much important and meaningful. After what happened in Paris, it was pretty remarkable how the music community came together, showed their support, and raised a ton of money for charity. Plus, we all benefited from some awesome music from Pearl Jam, Elton John, Dean Ween, and so many more.
Do you have a favorite “I Love You All the Time” cover?
http://playitforwardeodm.com/
Hey Ben! Thanks for giving us weirdos a chance to chat about some cool tunes and covers. This is a tough thing to categorize, as I’m not sure I can think of many artists to exclusively cover another artist without becoming a “tribute band” or some version of instrumental office music (read: Vitamin String Quartet). Does Zappa plays Zappa count?? Otherwise, one that comes to mind immediately is that Old Crow Medicine Show did a full album and tour of Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde from start to finish in celebration of it’s 50th anniversary last year. It’s pretty solid.
Ben, thanks for clarifying, probably still fucked it up but oh well. Woke up this morning and these two were in my head, I feel like they “should” qualify but I am not going to pretend I know what is going on in big Ben’s head. Regardless it gave me a chance to sit and spin both in their entirety on a rainy Saturday afternoon so either way I win. They both have ties to Third Man but these choices weren’t motivated by anything other than these are the ones that popped into my head and I felt like were not only solid releases but “mattered”. Beck: Song Reader, this is such an interesting project and I loved the concept even before I heard it or it showed up in the mailbox. The preface that Beck wrote explaining the idea is fantastic and you should order a copy and read it. I am certain this won’t encapsulate it but here it goes. He wrote an entire album of songs that could only be heard by learning to play them with the idea that everyone’s interpretation would be completely different. “The opening up of the music the possibility of letting people work with these songs in different ways, and of allowing them a different accessibility than what’s offered by all the many forms of music available today, is ultimately what this collection aimed for.” He pulled in some A listers for sure putting this together including Mr. White the Third himself doing a version of I’m Down. My favorite track on the album is Don’t Act Like Your Heart Isn’t Hard by Juanes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UPugBfoyZ8 This album matters for a bunch of reasons, the idea that people have to learn to read the music and get to create their own spin on a song from it’s rawest notated form is fucking cool. Small disclaimer, I don’t read music, don’t write music, don’t play music, so that summary may sound totally fucked but I did my best. The other reason it matters is all the proceeds went to a non-profit focused on cultivating writing skills in students ages 6 – 18 I love writing, I am an author and have written a couple books and writing matters. Bonus album: (again should qualify but maybe it don’t) Brandi Carlile: Cover Stories this album was originally released by Brandi herself but this is a collaboration where she found artists to cover one song each off of the original album, released it and then gave all the money to the WarChild foundation who specializes in helping children effected by war across the globe. Dolly Parton was the first to sign on and absolutely crushes her version of “The Story” if there was ever any doubt she still has serious pipes. Margo Price does a version of Down Pour and Pearl Jam and Adele add tracks as well as Kris Kristofferson, Shovels and Rope, the Avett Bros, Old Crow, Jim James and some others. When it first dropped for pre-order there was an opportunity to purchase test pressings for a hundred bucks but was just so broke at the time, couldn’t pull the trigger still regret it. So there yah go, if anything comes of this atleast you got two new albums to go purchase cause they are both for great causes and the artist lineup’s on both is fucking great.
Dread Zeppelin. Need I say more? Probably, but I won’t.
Did you hear Angélique Kidjo‘s complete covers album of ‘Remain In Light’? It’s fantastic and completely revitalises the songs with the afro beat rhythms which inspired Talking Heads and Eno on the original. But rather than a straight covers album, Kidjo inserts her own African lyrics throughout. It’s all very fresh and very good. The only downside? There isn’t a vinyl pressing…
Hey Ben! A while back you posted about Melvin Dillon’s Soul Step Records which turned me on to that excellent label. Today Soul Step is releasing Brian Owens’ album Soul of Cash. Imagine Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Curtis Mayfield singing Johnny Cash. Cheers!
Tutti Frutti by Little Richard coverd by Trio.
The 80’s for me is the best decade of music! Bought my first record in ‘81 when I was 9. The best era in the 80’s is the ‘Neue Deutsche Welle’ . As a younster from Holland I couldn’t understand english, but german no problem! I watched daily german tv stations with the terrible synchronized movies. Stallone with a over the top voice. But I liked John Wayne movies on saturdaynight so I could stay up late. So back to Trio! Three guys Stephan Remmler leadvocals (and only living member), guitarplayer Gert Krawinkel and Peter Behrens as the drummer. The clown of the three. Very minimalistic and sometimes music can be so simple and the still stands today! I think everybody has heard their world smash hit Da, Da, Da, but I prefer ‘broken hearts for you and me’ or ‘herz ist Trumpf’. So browse the web and you see why they are better then The White Stripes! Or maybe you can convinced me with The White Stripe record
To add some more to this…
Chris Cornell covers – Led Zeppelin – Thank You, Whole Lotta Love, Immigrant Song, Beatles – A Day in the Life, Ticket to Ride, Dylan – The Times Are A Changin, I Threw it All Away
In addition, in kind of a spin on covering lyrics, when Chris Cornell took Johnny Cash’s lyrics and made them into a song for You Never Knew My Mind. Previously Johnny Cash had covered Rusty Cage by Chris. I also like how both Chris and Dolly Parton both covered John Lennon’s Imagine.