Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of November 2023

By / / Alternative Rock, Country & Folk, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / Leave a Comment

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.

In November there were cover releases from Cat Power (Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert), Juliana Hatfield (Sings ELO), Various Artists (Light in the Attic & Friends) and Joecephus and The George Jonestown Massacre (Call Me Animal: A Tribute to the MC5), but otherwise it was a slow month cover-wise. Yet we can once again list ten successful ones.

Enjoy the Silence || Cover: Iron Chic || Original: Depeche Mode
New York punks Iron Chic are back with the new digital single Ancient Pistol (self-released), featuring a heavy version of Depeche Mode’s 1990 synth-pop hit Enjoy The Silence on the virtual flipside. Dark, atmospheric and intense.

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New album: The Brights || Oyster Rock!

By / / Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop / Leave a Comment

The Brights, hailing from Sydney’s Gadigal territory, make listening to their first full album LP a breeze. Oyster Rock! is a diverse and highly accessible affair, with sunny melodies and poignant undertones. The fusion of beachy vibes, alt-country nuances and folk touches coalesce within the familiar confines of jangly indie rock.

Rather than striving for uniqueness, The Brights focus on crafting the best songs imaginable. As a result, most of the record sounds pleasingly familiar with most of the songs inviting comparisions to well-loved bands. Opener Waiting reminds me of Bonny Doon, for example, while Quiet As A Cloud wanders in Real Estate territory, and Everyone In Town definitely has some healthy Pavement fingerprints over it. Other songs draw comparisons to the likes of Nic Hessler, Woods and Twerps. To be clear, this namedropping takes nothing away from the high level of songwriting skills of The Brights.

What sets The Brights apart is that they’ve mastered all these different subgenres of indie pop and indie rock. It’s as though they handpicked influences from different shelves, each direction perfectly complementing the essence of individual tracks. Meticulously crafted yet retaining a sense of spontaneity, each of these songs is worth spending time with.

Oyster Rock! is out now on Meritorio Records and Stable Label.




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Meritorio

New album: Rainsticks || Here Come The Warm Jets

By / / Jangle Pop, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

I missed the first three albums by Rainsticks (Nashville), but album #4 Here Come The Warm Jets definitely grabbed my attention. The band, who on the new record are comprised of Asher Horton (Guitars, Keys, Vocals), Ben Parks (Drums, Bass, Percussion, Vocals), and Emily Hall (Vocals), play jangly guitar pop. There are hints of classic power pop bands like Big Star and The Stems, but of contemporary power pop revivalists like 2nd Grade as well. Meanwhile, standout songs like Go In Blind and It’s Five O’Clock Nowhere sound like they come straight from the reputable Bay Area jangle pop scene. Expect strummy, jangly and chiming guitars and melodies that fit the description sweet and timeless to a T.

As a token of gratitude, Rainsticks finish Here Come The Warm Jets by covering a song written by one of the members’ dad, Frosty Horton. Nice kids, eh?



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Jasmine Minks || We Make Our Own History

By / / Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

Forty years after their birth and more than twenty years after their last album, Scottish indie pop band The Jasmine Minks return with a new LP, appropriately titled We Make Our Own History. Although they already had earned their place in the hall of fame through their work on Creation Records, these eleven fresh songs are a welcome addition. Melancholic music close to perfection, driven by jangling guitars and the charmingly distinctive vocals of frontman Jim Shepherd (you may remember last year’s solo debut The Circle). Standout tracks She Knows and Never Been Lucky immediately sound like modern classics, but actually all 38 minutes here are heart-warming and timeless.



We Make Our Own History, recorded & mastered by Pat Collier, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Last Night From Glasgow / Spinout Nuggets. Featuring Jim Shepherd (vocals, guitar), Martin Keena (bass), Dave Musker (organ, synths, theremin, electric piano), Tommy Reid (vocals, drums, guitar), Wattie Duncan (guitars) and Chris Narayan (tambourine).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Last Night From Glasgow || Spinout Productions

Throwback Thursday: The Plastic Fish Factory || Come Inside

By / / Country & Folk, Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

Most of the time we look ahead, but we are very aware that there is still much to discover in the past. Such as the music of The Plastic Fish Factory, an indie folk-pop band emerged from the live scene of Ghent, Belgium, featuring Kurt Vanpeteghem (vocals, guitar), Luc Waegeman (bass, foot percussion), Bart Westerduin (guitar, bass) and Kristel Eggers (accordion). The three songs from their CD single Come Inside, with which they made their debut in 1997, have now been re-released by Wagonmaniac, a beautiful and rightly tribute to frontman/songwriter Vanpeteghem, who died far too young last year. The tracks are bluesy and melancholic and have stood the test of time effortlessly – beautifully orchestrated and with goosebump-inducing vocals. The Plastic Fish Factory’s full-length album Get Out will also be available again, in January 2024.

Come Inside is out digitally through Wagonmaniac Music.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: Friends of Cesar Romero || Temporary Anne

By / / Garage Rock, Power Pop / 1 Comment

Look at that J Waylon, checking his 2023 calendar and noticing there is still plenty of space to release yet another episode from his acclaimed Doomed Babe Series. And lo and behold, here is #39, which marks the ninth (!) FOCR release we write about here on ATW dot com.

By now, it should be abundantly clear that we are fans of J Waylon’s attempts to turn personal heartbreak into concise garage-y power pop jams. “Oh Temporary Anne, I’ll never find another again,” he sings on Temporary Ann. On Who’s Wondering Now, he sings about his stolen heart: “A tragedy in broad daylight, Heisting my mind to another height.” No stranger to picking great song to cover, FOCR closes out the single with an immaculate version of a cut from The Jam’s The Gift Album – Running On The Spot.

Again, FOCR provides perfect music for bruised hearts and short attention spans.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: The Drowns || Just the Way She Goes / 1979 Trans Am

By / / Glam Rock, Power Pop, Punk / 2 Comments

Aaron Rev-Peters (guitar, vocals), Andy Wylie (bass, vocals), Simon Short (guitar) and Jake Margolis (drums), the Seattle, Washington-based street punks of The Drowns, are back with a double A side single featuring two pretty cool three minute songs. Just the Way She Goes is a catchy and uplifting pop-punk anthem that features sing-along lyrics and handclaps, with a video that suggests that life on the road is a constant party. Equally infectious is 1979 Trans Am, a glam rock stomper with gritty vocals and irresistible guitar licks, more in line with their take on The Sweet’s Ballroom Blitz that we shared earlier this year in our monthly overview of the best covers.


Just the Way She Goes b/w 1979 Trans Am is out now digitally and on 7″ vinyl through Pirates Press Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Linnea’s Garden || Mirrors

By / / Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Linnea’s Garden have a new EP out with 5-songs of their signature sound that is hard to pinpoint to one single genre. It’s slightly glam, a tad power pop, definitely kinda garage-y, and indie pop as well. Pathological Liar opens the record strongly, and with Comeback, Linnea’s Garden close out the EP on a high note. Another nice one by the Boston band!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: No Waves || Postcard

By / / Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

No Waves is a young nu-punk trio from Montreal, Canada, formed in 2017 when they were in their early teens. You should actually see Angel Parra Vela (guitar, vocals), Cyril Harvin Musngi (bass) and Sam Sussman (drums, vocals) live on stage, because you won’t find it much more energetic elsewhere. However, their new EP Postcard captures the spirit of their performances quite well. We get six original tracks in which indie rock and garage punk merge, always dynamic and raw, sounding completely contemporary. The lyrics of standout track Dumpster Fire are a good reflection of what we are witnessing: “This song, I won’t show it to my friends // They could never understand what’s going on inside my head.”



The Postcard EP, produced & engineered by Ryan Battistuzzi, is out now digitally through Stomp Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Feeling Figures || Migration Magic

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Punk / 1 Comment

We stand on the brink of December, and we’ve cautiously started working on our Year-end-lists. It’s a time when late-year releases knock on the door of music bloggers, sometimes causing a bit of upheaval. Yet, occasionally, a release pops up that may bring the whole house down.

I’m talking about Migration Magic, the debut LP by Montreal’s Feeling Figures. This quartet unfurls a highly charged brand of outsider pop, weaving together elements of garage, (post)punk, twee, and indie rock into something that transcends categorization. Like a lost Velvet Underground record released by Flying Nun perhaps? But that description captures only part of the scrappy, ramshackle and wonderful appeal of Migration Magic. At the heart of Feeling Figures’ sonic landscape lies the songwriting synergy between founding member Zakary Slax and Kay Moon. Having Joe Chamandy and Thomas Molander of Retail Simps in the mix as well is kind of a big deal as well.

The raw, unpolished sound – mostly recorded live, the multilinguality and dual vocalism, it all contributes to the allure of Feeling Figures. Some of the songs feel like classics the first time you hear them. That applies to the original tracks, but in equal measure to the two covers. Feeling Figures turn Bobby Fuller’s Don’t Ever Let Me Know into an indie anthem with a chorus that practically demands to be belted out. The band’s cover of Harmonium’s Pour Un Instant is an even larger departure from the original, and it is a definite improvement and one of the funnest songs on the LP.

Listening to Migration Magic is like visiting a Theme Park full of wild rides, sweet treats, relaxed down time, short queues surrounded by the coolest people, and you never want the day to end. LP out now through K Records and Perennial.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

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