'Like A Version' Covers That Are Better Than the Original
What makes a good cover? There are different angles an artist can take. They can cover an influence, an overlooked song from the past that means a lot to them. Or they can do the opposite and pick a recent track. The exercise can be tedious when it’s a song a little too obvious, like the hit of the moment. Let’s be honest, the thing of doing a pop song as a slow ballad is a little played out, but there’s a lot of fun to be had when artists pick a song by a contemporary and put their spin on it. The best covers are probably the ones that don’t sound like covers at all, I think we’ve all liked a song, only to find out it’s someone else’s track. Then you get to discover the covered artist, and so on… Lucky for us, the Australian station Triple J has invited some of the coolest artists of the past decade to do a cover of their choice live on Like A Version. There are some swings, some misses, and some truly great takes. Here are a few notables.
Press Club - When You Were Young
I was re-listening to an old SNL episode (Dane Cook was the host, don’t ask) when I stumbled upon an amazing, manic performance of When You Were Young by The Killers, which I totally dismissed back when it aired. I was a snob, what can I say, I wasn’t going to enjoy a song by The Diet Strokes. How gauche…
Years have passed and I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. Press Club wipes all the sheen of the glam anthem and nails their garage rock rendition that trades grandeur for meat-and-potato riff-rich energy. A purely magnetic tour de force, and I try not to use this expression more than once a post, so you know I mean it.
Phoenix - No Woman
On the heels of Ti Amo, you’d expect Phoenix to cover some Lucio Battisti track, or something. Instead, they went for a vocoder-heavy version of Whitney’s No Woman. From it’s indie-folk roots, the song is transformed into a minimal and groovy avant-pop tune that reminds us all that Phoenix used to be one of the most eclectic and forward-thinking rock bands out there.
And I’m not shitting or their output post-Wolgang Amadeus Phoenix, I just have a soft spot for United, that’s all. Throw me the first stone, I dare you.
Petit Biscuit - 1901
Speaking of Phoenix… No, wait, cross that.
Speaking of unexpected covers, everyone’s favorite French dude Petit Biscuit decided to cover 1901. In theory, the choice makes no sense at all, but in practice, it’s pretty cool. It’s surely very different from everything else he has released, but that’s kind of the point, no? Can we get more of this?
The Temper Track - Multi-Love
The Temper Trap’s cover of Multi-Love isn’t a complete reinvention. Devoid of its studio wizardry, the track comes off a little more soulful and immediate. It’s one of my favorite tracks from one of my favorite artists of the 2010s, and hearing this cover made me feel like I was hearing it for the first time, which is pretty impressive. It's proof that a great cover doesn’t have to be completely outlandish, it can also be a simple and personal version of a great track.
Meg Mac - Let It Happen
Here’s another recent psych rock masterpiece that owes a lot to production. Meg Mac strips this bad boy down to the bare essentials, re-imagining it as some kind of understated noire ballad from the sixties, the kind of thing that could open a James Bond movie, give or take a few horn stabs.
It’s funny because, for their Like A Version cover, Tame Impala picked a Kylie Minogue song and made it way weirder, but in this case it’s a weird song that got more streamlined. I’m not sure were I’m going with this observation, but a good song is a good song no matter the arrangements is what I mean.
The Belligerents - Praise You
On paper, this is one of those choices of cover that feels just a bit too obvious to be essential, yet The Belligerents bring an overall freakiness that makes an ubiquitous jam feel new all over again. I like how the host sets the bar pretty high at the beginning by playing the sample that inspired Fatboy Slim’s original track, menacing to upstage the band, yet they don’t blink an eye. They attack their cover with a renewed energy evocative of acid neo-psychedelia a la Primal Scream.
Denzel Curry - Bulls On Parade
It’s Denzel Curry. And he’s doing a Rage Against The Machine song. Um… Nothing to add.
PS - It’s good.
Skegss - Here Comes Your Man
Garage rock darlings Skeggs do their most pitch-perfect impression of the Pixies for this one, which is harder to pull off than it seems. They make it look absolutely effortless. If I saw this one live, I’d close my eyes and feel like I was somewhere in Boston, witnessing Black Francis circa-1988, pit stains and all. That’s a feat in and of itself. I mean, I was 4 years old, so I missed the boat. I know, that’s not an excuse.
Nilüfer Yanya - Super Rich Kids
This one makes me feel all kinds of things inside. Yanya’s deep and soulful voice manages to out-weird the channel ORANGE highlight. It sounds so essential and definitive, if I had heard it in a cool cafe or at a party (ooh, remember those!?), I would totally think this was an original from the 70s that had been covered by Frank Ocean down the line.
You want more covers? Check out Triple J’s channel on YouTube.