Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, e.g. 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 (only if supported by the artist, so no live videos filmed by the audience or anything like that), here are—in a kind of random order—a bunch of successful covers from last month.
Are You Sure (first performed by Tammy Grimes, later also recorded by Aretha Franklin) by Tami Neilson — from Songs from the Motion Picture “Holy Days” soundtrack (Outside Music)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (AC/DC) by City Kings — from Chainsaw EP
I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones) by The Offspring — digital track (Concord Records)
The Boat Dreams From the Hill (Jawbreaker) by Josie — digital track
24 (Game Theory) by Librarians With Hickeys — from 1972 single (Big Stir Records)
Metaphorical Ohio (Little Oso) by Snake Lips — from Maine Covers Maine: Mutations of Homegrown Standards compilation (Mutants of the East)
Look at Miss Ohio (Gillian Welch & David Rawlings) by Ken Pomeroy — from Tonight’s News EP (Rounder Records)
Call Me (Blondie) by The Sugarettes — from Specimen #1 EP
Teenage Bonehead (The Queers) by Teenage Bottlerocket — from The Queers/Teenage Bottlerocket Split 7″ (Pirates Press Records)
12XU (Wire) by The Burntwick Smugglers — from Punk Rockin’ At Ranscombe EP (Spinout Nuggets)
A Pillar Of Salt (The Thermals) by Lone Wolf — from split 7″ alongside Eaten By Snakes, with both groups covering the same song (Not Sorry Records / Stardumb Records)
Starry Eyes (The Records) by Russ Rankin — digital track
Another Brick In The Wall (Pink Floyd) by In This Moment featuring Kat Von D — from Witch LP (Better Noise Music)
Your Sweet 666 (HIM) by Blood Vulture — digital track (Pure Noise Records)
Money Changes Everything (The Brains) by Nato Coles & the Blue Diamond Band — from Join Us For A Few LP
Best of You (Foo Fighters) by Ryan Hamilton — from Alternatively Part 1 EP
Every Morning (Sugar Ray) by Julia Jacklin — for triplje j’s Like A Version
Violet (Hole) by Slayyyter — for triple j’s Like A Version
Creep (Radiohead) by Vera Blue — for triple j’s Like A Version
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (U2) by Darren Flynn — from The Pinebox EP
Clay Pigeons (Blaze Foley) by Lucy Dacus — from Sittin’ With Blaze: A Tribute To Blaze Foley (Lost Art Records)
Showtime (Ryan Adams) by Hello London — from Three Hands LP
Lithium (Nirvana) by Phoebe Bridgers — from BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge
Don’t You Want Me (The Human League) by Meshell Ndegeocello with Cat Power — from upcoming Synonym LP (Blue Note)
38 Years Old (Tragically Hip) by Cabin Fever — digital track (Live Off The Floor At Time Out Of Mind Recording Co)
House Where Nobody Lives (Tom Waits) by Eddie Skuller — from Blind Love EP
Hey Willy Boy (Townes Van Zandt) by Brother Flower — from Perpetual Tunes (Perpetual Doom)
My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains (Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band) by DUM1 — digital track
Wild Horses (The Rolling Stones) by Pinky Beecroft featuring Queenie — from Lonesome Wolf LP (Ward Five Music)
Strawberry Fields Forever (The Beatles) by Jah Wobble & Tian Qiyi — from Mystic Liverpool: The Beatles Psychedelic Psongbook (Cherry Red Records)
In My Life (The Beatles) by Linus of Hollywood — hand-illustrated lyric video (Oglio Entertainment)
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (The Pogues) by U2 — from upcoming compilation 20th Century Paddy – The Songs of Shane MacGowan (Rubyworks)
SEEIN’ STARS (Turnstile) by Turnstile and Elton John — from NEVER ENOUGH: VERSIONS 2-CD (Roadrunner Records)