Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of December 2024

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, eg as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are – in random order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

Da Doo Ron Ron || Cover: The Peawees || Original: The Crystals
First the good news: Italian punk rock band The Peawees have finally released a studio version of their cover of this Phil Spector classic—always a highlight in their live shows—on 7″ vinyl, as the flip side to their self-penned song Drive (taken from this fall’s One Ride LP). The inevitable bad news: the single was a present for the 300 attendees of the Wild Honey Christmas Party, that reportedly never will be reprinted. A cold comfort: you can download it for free.

S​.​O​.​S. || Cover: Paper Mice feat. Miranda Winters || Original: ABBA
Chicago-based post-punk outfit Paper Mice put out the Neurotic City EP (via Three One G), on which they completely revamped Neil Sedaka’s Love Will Keep Us Together, Tina Turner’s Private Dancer and ABBA’s S.O.S., with a different guest vocalist on each track. Very well done, archetypal and inspired.

The Fall || Cover: Sad Eyed Beatniks || Original: Beat Happening
Half a year after his lovely Ten Brocades LP, San Francisco’s Sad Eyed Beatniks aka Kevin Linn returned with the Munro’s Sacred Hutch EP. It features six lo-fi covers—I Found A Reason (The Velvet Underground), Lonely Financial Zone (Jonathan Richman), The Fall (Beat Happening), Little Delia (Blind Willie McTell), The Part Where (The Oilies) and I Had To Tell You (The 13th Floor Elevators)—that were previously recorded for various purposes but are now brought together here, and we can only be happy about that.

Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White || Cover: Femur || Original: The Standells
On the first volume of the Lost at Mid Fifties EP (Chaputa! Records), Spanish garage punk band Femur injected a 60s feel and a good dose of fuzz into four raw and raucous covers, collected on 7″ vinyl. Among their takes on The Phantom Brothers’ Toledo, The Beatles’ Nowhere Man and The Kinks’ Days, this one stands out for me.

You Won’t See Me || Cover: Blammos || Original: The Beatles
And here are The Beatles again, this time as the source for the sole non-own track on Sometimes I Wish You Were Dead (Super Electric Megawatt Stereo Records), the new full-lengther from San Francisco power pop quartet Blammos. It’s a shame we didn’t post an album review, because the nine original songs here are just as entertaining as this successful cover.

I Love How You Love Me || Cover: Lynda Mandolyn || Original: The Paris Sisters
Justine Covault and Lynda Mandolyn planned to record this 1961 ballad by The Paris Sisters together, out of a shared love of Angelo Badalamenti and early 60s girl groups. Justine passed away before that happened, but with this alternate version—part of the 3-track digital release I Love How You Love Me on Rum Bar Records—she is still being honored by the Detroit-based singer/songwriter/guitarist. We recently also wrote about Tom Baker’s tribute Justine & Me, which underlines how much she is missed.

Fairytale Of New​ ​York || Cover: En Attendant Ana || Original: The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl 
There has been a non-stop stream of Xmas covers that are no longer relevant at this point, but let’s not pretend it didn’t happen. One of the finest releases was En Attendant Ana Sings Christmas, on which the French indie pop band put a different spin on the timeless classic by The Pogues, with a touch of Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You), alongside a medley around The Free Design’s Close Your Mouth and Christmas Is The Day. Proceeds go to humanitarian association Utopia 56.

Swingin Party || Cover: Magon || Original: The Replacements
World Peace (T.Rex Recordings) may not be a Christmas record, but it does fit this moment of hope and light very well. We are talking about the next charming long player by Israeli singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Magon, settled in Costa Rica, where he recorded nine new songs this fall, including covers of Jacques Dutronc’s L’espace D’une Fille (translated to For The Sake Of A Girl) and The Replacements’ Swingin Party.

Back To Black || Cover: The Zutons || Original: Amy Winehouse
Is it a blessing or a curse that Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse got their hands on Valerie, found on the sophomore studio album by British indie rock band The Zutons? It’s undoubtedly brought them a new audience, but it’s also overshadowed their other work (check out Pressure Point, from their debut LP). Either way, things have come full circle, now that they’re doing Back To Black.

Also worth mentioning:
Autobahn (Kraftwerk) by Kid Loco meets Soul Sugar (from Kraft Dub Werk LP)
Boys Don’t Cry (The Cure) by Baby Combat
Fade Into You (Mazzy Star) by Pedal Steel Noah
Fine and Mellow (Billie Holiday) by Wild Billy Childish & The Chatham Singers (from Step Out! LP)
Flowers (Miley Cyrus) by Graves (from Lagniappe Session EP)
Grace (Jeff Buckley) by Artemas (for Like A Version)
See Ya, See Ya Later (Suzy Cato) by L. Hotel
September Gurls (Big Star) by My Favorite Boxer
Something In The Way (Nirvana) by Euthymia

Check out our Dusted playlist on Spotify for more cool cover songs.

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