Lowland Circus is a South Swedish roots rock band featuring Gustav Svensson (vocals, guitar), Andree Engström (guitar), David Jonsson Länne (keyboards, backing vocals), Dennis Stenmark (bass) and Mattias Samuelsson (drums). Their 2015 debut single Just Kids was a hit, yet we had to wait until now for their first full-length album, called Heartless. Its ten songs are atmospheric, intimate and magnetic, with strong folk-pop sensibilities, tempo changes and woo-hoo harmonies. They evoke all sorts of references, without being able to pinpoint who or what. This record is anything but heartless.
Heartless is out streaming via LLC Recordings. There’s also a vinyl LP, for now only available at gigs.
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.
I Trusted You || Cover: Gustaf || Original: Andy Kaufman
Now this is a good idea. The song in which performance artist Andy Kaufman repeats the three words from the title more and more manically (we are talking about the late 70s), gets an awesome post-punk treatment from Brooklyn art rock outfit Gustaf. Lydia Gammill (lead vocals), Tine Hill (bass), Vram Kherlopian (guitar, keyboards), Melissa Lucciola (drums) and Tarra Thiessen (vocals, percussion) played the tune live in their early days as a band, and finally felt the time was right to release it — produced, mixed, and engineered by Jim Eno (Spoon). This could easily become a big dance floor hit. Out digitally via Royal Mountain Records.
The Dedication Song || Cover: The Fleshtones || Original: Freddy Cannon
And we have more cool music from New York, quite different though. Legendary garage rockers The Fleshtones return with a fresh 45 on which Peter Zaremba (vocals, piano), Keith Streng (guitar, backing vocals), Ken Fox (bass, backing vocals) and Bill Milhizer (percussion, backing vocals) rebuild two forgotten tunes. A-side Festa di Frankenstein is an alternate version of The Swinging Phillies’ 1967 Halloween track Frankenstein’s Party, here sung in Italian and featuring a saxophone solo. The Dedication Song on the flipside is even more fun, as catchy as it gets, thanks in part to new lyrics to Freddy Cannon’s 1966 hit — it serves as a sequel to their successful 1984 single American Beat. Out on limited edition 7″ vinyl through Yep Roc Records.
I Can See You || Cover: Cherie Currie & The Dead Boys || Original: Taylor Swift
Rock acts such as The Courettes and The Dollyrots and pop singers like Tiffany and Samantha Cole are brought together on the 12-track compilation A Strange Tribute To Taylor Swift, a title that says it all. The punk rock rendition of I Can See You by Cherie Currie (The Runaways) with The Dead Boys gets priority on our stage. Out digitally and on CD through Cleopatra Records.
You Don’t Own Me || Cover: Bad Buddy || Original: Lesley Gore
Edmonton, Alberta-based rock band Bad Buddy are back with their sophomore album Bad Buddy II. Emily Bachynski (vocals, guitar), Andi Vissia (vocals, guitar), Shari Rae (bass, backing vocals) and Geoffrey Hamdon-O’Brien (drums) deliver ten powerful originals with distinctive vocals taking center stage, and while the one cover is more understated, it still holds up in terms of intensity. Out digitally via Meatflower Music.
Newtown || Cover: Dealing With Damage & Yootha Today || The Slits
On the split 7″ Dealing With Dinosaurs, two British punk bands each share two notable covers. Dinosaur Skull chose songs by Big Drill Car (In Green Fields) and Dogpiss (She Said), Dealing With Damage pays tribute to The Cure (M) and The Slits (Newtown). Extra credits for the collaboration with Yootha Today (Edna Flange, Mimsy Scratcher and Ethel Quim) on the energetic closing track. Out digitally and on limited dino green vinyl 7″ through Brassneck Records.
Searching For The Truth || Cover: The Harlem Gospel Travelers || Cover: Dwain Vinyard
On their new album Rhapsody, gospel singers Ifedayo Gatling, Dennis Bailey, and George Marage delve into Numero Group’s gospel funk catalog, a suggestion from their mentor Eli “Paperboy” Reed that pays off. The original versions, found on the compilation Good God! Apocryphal Hymns, are definitely worth checking out, but the new versions are also top-notch — this track in particular is heavenly. Out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Colemine Records.
You Dont Believe Me || Popincourt || Original: The Pretty Things
On the House of Four EP, four psych pop and mod-adjacent artists celebrate English R&B band The Pretty Things. Andy Lewis (Walking Down The Street), Popincourt (You Don’t Believe Me), Papernut Cambridge (Defecting Grey) and Robert Rotifer (House of Ten) pass this challenge with ease. The ragged edge of Olivier Popincourt’s vocals stand out to me. Out digitally and on 10″ vinyl through Gare du Nord Records.
Brown Eyed Girl || Cover: Nuisance || Original: Van Morrison
Californian punk band Nuisance, who made some waves in the 90s, have collected sixteen singles, compilation tracks and songs found in a garbage can on new compilation Terminal Fuckups, including the ska-tinged, gritty and infectious take on Van Morrison’s classic Brown Eyed Girl. Out digitally via Lavasocks Records.
Fade Into You || Cover: The Rubens || Original: Mazzy Star
Then it’s a small step to Hope Sandoval, the lead singer of Mazzy Star, who won many hearts with her dreamy performances of the wonderful 1994 single Fade Into You. Australian alt-rock band The Rubens may not be able to top that in their contribution to triple j’s Like A Version – no one can, right? – but they certainly know how to captivate, not least because of that slide guitar. Their new (original) single Sunday Night is out now via Ivy League Records.
Last Leaf || Cover: Willie Nelson || Original: Tom Waits
It’s almost unimaginable, but country icon Willie Nelson is coming with his 76th solo studio album (and 153rd album overall). Under the title Last Leaf On The Tree he covers tracks such as Lost Cause (Beck), Come Ye (Nina Simone), Keep Me In Your Heart (Warren Zevon), Robbed Blind (Keith Richards) and Are You Ready For The Country? (Neil Young). The record will also feature two songs by Tom Waits, of which Bad As Me‘s Last Leaf has already been shared. I played the old and new version at the same time: the two unique voices fit surprisingly well together, but on their own they also are both beautiful. Out on November 1 through Legacy Recordings.
Be My Baby || Cover: UFO Club || Original: The Ronettes
The UFO Club was a garage psych project by Night Beats’ Danny Lee Blackwell and Black Angels’ Christian Bland, who released a self-titled album through Reverberation Appreciation Society in 2012. Its eleven tracks include reverberating covers of The Ronettes’ Be My Baby and The Seeds’ Up in Her Room. The LP is available again on vinyl via Bandcamp, so what better reason to share it here?
Check out our Dusted playlist on Spotify for more cool cover songs.
In the summer of 2018, my most-played record was The Creeps’ Beneath The Pines. There was something incredibly addictive about it, with melodies that burrowed deep into my brain. Even now, when I hear a song from the record, I am taking right back to that Summer. So, when I saw a social media post from Stefan Stardumb mentioning that two-thirds of The Creeps (Scott McCash and Jordan Bell, also of Crusades, a band you should check out if you haven’t) had a new project, my interest was piqued. The description — “For fans of slow-ish songs about the pending apocalypse” — made me even more curious.
Is it any good? Absolutely! But you’ll want to leave any preconceived notions at the door before diving into Fossil Record’s debut, A Little Weight. Yes, those familiar addictive vocal melodies are there, but they arrive at a different pace and from a fresh angle. Rather than a sharp shock, this album feels like a reaching hand, inviting you to tag along. For fans of The Creeps, Fossil Record might feel like the same band, but from an alternate timeline — an alt-country-ish version of a familiar favorite. It’s oddly familiar, yet distinct. And for those new to The Creeps, the patience to let these shimmering melodies unfold will be rewarded with an appreciation for McCash and Bell’s songwriting.
A Little Weight is best experienced on vinyl, lyric sheet in hand, while absorbing its tales of impending doom. If The Creeps had a dark and gloomy streak, things aren’t much brighter in Fossil Record’s world. Songs like Coastline and Hard Feelings tackle the climate crisis head-on, while others like Float are more apocalyptically ambiguous, almost like the soundtrack to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. This isn’t a feel-good record, but it will make you feel — and perhaps even remind you to be grateful for the experience of being alive.
A Little Weight is streaming everywhere now, with LPs and CDs available for pre-order now (arriving in a month or two) via Stardumb Records.
The Fancy Gap project was born when The Love Language‘s Stuart McLamb and songwriter/producer Charles Crossingham sheltered in a mountain cabin in the census-designated place Fancy Gap, Virginia, during the pandemic. They put aside the early demos for a new Love Language LP, and started writing the ten new songs that now make up their self-titled debut album. They deliver melancholic indie folk with lyrics on life and death, dreams and death, laughter and loss, arising from questions of what would happen when the world started over. Opening track How To Dance provides part of the answer: “I just wanna be in the band”—and here we are. Masterful guest musicians have taken the duo’s ideas to an even higher level. This is a heartfelt and timeless release.
Fancy Gap’s self-titled album, written, arranged, engineered and produced by Charles Crossingham and Stuart McLamb, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Ghost Choir Records. Featuring Stuart McLamb (vocals, guitars, bass, piano, lap steel), Charles Crossingham (guitars, piano), Rami Jaffee (Hammond B3 organ, Wurlitzer electric piano), Jon Graboff (pedal steel) and Justin Holder (drums), with Will McFarlane (guitar), Sharon Van Etten (vocals), Adam Lazzara (vocals), Kate Thompson McLamb (vocals), Bob Pence (sax, clarinet) and Richard Bennett (bass) on select tracks.
Desert Mambas is the bluesy alt-country project of prolific Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter/guitarist Bailey Moses (formerly in Foxx Bodies), also featuring Eddie Ponce (bass, drums, guitar), Connor Gallaher (pedal steel) and Penelope Uribe-Abee (vocals). The varied “dusty queer tunes” on their new EP Pastel Southwestern are as idiosyncratic as they are entertaining. Their mixture of humorous lyrics (“describing everything from the trials and tribulations of the trans experience to the alluring grip of trash TV”), moody melodies, pleasant vocals and warm sound makes it hard not to fall for them. At the very least check out Hot George Costanza, a belated tribute to the beloved Seinfeld character (played by Jason Alexander), which also serves as a hit-worthy anti-hero anthem.
Pastel Southwestern, recorded/engineered/mixed/produced by Eddie Ponce, is out digitally through Kill Rock Stars Nashville.
Released a couple of months ago, Chris Milam’s Orchid South LP initially slipped under the radar. I don’t recall checking it out, but I can imagine dismissing it quickly for being it a bit too polished for my taste. If I did, I was wrong. While this record has mainstream appeal and an arena-ready sound, I think a lot of our readers will find much to like in this collection of songs.
Featuring an all-star cast from the Memphis scene that includes members of The Hold Steady, Spiral Stairs, Lucero, and Twin Forks, Orchid South exudes a heartland rock vibe and an alt-country twang. The huge choruses, powerful guitars, and horn sections are familiar territory, but Milam gives them a fresh coat of paint. Fans of Dave Hause, Tom Petty, The Hold Steady, and later-era Replacements should take note.
“I don’t think you can get this sound unless it’s born in ya”—when American singer/songwriter/upright bassist Melissa Carper heard that quote from legendary bluegrass artist Ralph “Man Of Constant Sorrow” Stanley, she immediately knew she had to do something with it. It led to Borned In Ya, the name dropping title track of her very well executed new full-length album, which follows her successful LPs Daddy’s Country Gold (March 2021) and Ramblin’ Soul (November 2022). The vintage sound in which country, jazz, folk, swing and soul come together has remained, the wordplay once again shows a sharp eye and a sense of humor, and the characteristic vocals steal the show as always, yet it is truly unique and even kind of refreshing in these modern times. In addition to ten entertaining originals, there are beautiful covers of That’s My Desire (written by Helmy Kresa & Carroll Loveday, first recorded by Russell Wooding & His Grand Central Red Caps, 1931), and Every Time We Say Goodbye (written by Cole Porter, first performed by Nan Wynn, 1944). Ralph Stanley (RIP) would have been impressed.
Borned In Ya, produced by Andrija Tokic & Dennis Crouch, is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Mae Music / Thirty Tigers. Also featuring Jenn Hodges, Kyshona Armstrong, Larry Marrs, Maureen Murphy, Nickie Conley, Sierra Ferrell, Matty Meyer, Christopher Gelb, Dennis Crouch, Billy Contreras, Chris Scruggs, Rory Hoffman, John Baldwin, John Pahmer, Jeff Taylor, Doug Corcoran, Carl Larson, Kaitlyn Raitz, Laura Epling, Matt Combs and Rebecca Patek on select tracks.
How fascinating it is to follow the expedition of Canadian songwriter/musician Liam Duncan under the Boy Golden moniker – from that quirky but catchy first single and the dopey but out of the ordinary debut LP Church of Better Daze, via the more mature For Jimmy EP that announced a new direction, to new full-length album For Eden in which Americana leads us to a kind of paradise. Its ten original songs tell personal, self-reflective stories about dreams, endearment and adventures, heartfelt but humorous (“My dear if I’m honest, I hate being honest” – from Toyota). The music is acoustic and warm, but it is the truly amazing and captivating lyrics that make this record wantlist-worthy. Listen to The Way for example, a folk song set in Amsterdam, and how an atmospheric scene is created there in a few striking sentences (“I was looking for the right words // You found them first // Looking for the answers man, and maybe we were finding them // That’s just the way I am”).
For Eden is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Six Shooter Records.
Laika’s Orbit frontman Shane Dupuy is at it again! Different year, different side-project. As a huge (*holds arms super wide*) fan of everything Laika’s Orbit, I’ve been excited by Dupuy’s recent ventures: the scrappy power pop of Special Someones and the rockin’ Replacements-meets-Thin Lizzy project Highball (if you’ve got time, make sure to play No Way Out But Through. LOVE THAT SONG!).
His latest moniker? Shane Dupuy & The Candlepin Champions. If you think that sounds kinda country, you’re absolutely right. The debut single features two songs: the title track Seneca, a top-notch country pop tune that’s got me wondering if there’s any style Dupuy can’t master, and (I Love) When Things Go Wrong, a perfectly-titled country song with a more rocking edge.
Another different side of Shane Dupuy, another killer release.
Update 8/21: I just found out that, in the same session, The Candlepin Champions also recorded two songs with Matt Medeiros. You can find them here.
Shane Dupuy & The Candlepin Champions are Shane Dupuy (Guitar, Vocals), Matt Medeiros (Guitar, Vocals), Lemmy Gurtowsky (Keyboards), Maisie Kaiser (Bass), and
Stephen Kamienski (Drums).
Last year, Micah Schnabel the author published the novel The Clown Watches The Clock, a satire on the struggle to find meaning and emotional fulfillment in a world where nearly everything is disposable and everyone is digital. Last May, Micah Schnabel the singer/songwriter/guitarist put out a record under the same title, featuring ten folk punk/indie rock songs with characterful music, fascinating lyrics and distinctive vocals. I had overlooked this release at the time, but fortunately the always reliable Rosy Overdrive came to the rescue with their Top 40 Albums of 2024 So Far. For others who missed it, I also share it here, because this pandemic album is an intriguing travelogue of learning to embrace a loss of hope. So strongly worded and engagingly played that it should make it into more year-end lists.
The Clown Watches The Clock, engineered & recorded by Alex Douglas, and mixed & mastered by Frank Turner, is out digitally and on CD and vinyl LP (self-released). Featuring Jason Winner (drums, hand claps, background vocals),
Todd May (bass, synth, background vocals), Jay Gasper (guitar, synth) and Frank Turner (tambourine, organ), and on select tracks you’ll also hear Vanessa Jean Speckman (background vocals, spoken word), Lydia Loveless (back-up vocals), Bob Starker (saxophone) and David Murphy (back-up vocals, hand claps).
