Atlantic City - The Hold Steady - War Child: Heroes Vol I - 2009

The Hold Steady try an interesting approach to covering a song that, if you read my previous entry you'll know, I find near impossible to improve upon. They take what The Boss did with a guitar, harmonica and one hell of a killer hook...and perform it as if the song had been on Born In The USA with the full E-Street Band backing it up. There's the tinkling piano, the harmonic squelling guitar solo, the Jersey Shore sax that may very well be played by the Big Man, the female background singer to hammer home that hook, and synchopated stop to a chanted chorus before a big kick back in.

I may have my issues with The Hold Steady, and I certainly don't prefer this version, but I have to give them credit for turning what sounded dull on paper into a solid reinterpretation. Well played boys, well played.

Another Saturday Night - Cat Stevens - Single - 1974

While Sam Cooke's original ached with the loneliness (or horniness, depending on how you read it) of a man in a strange place with no company, Cat Stevens makes the odd choice of making the song sound like it is taking place in a Mexican cantina. There is something sort of disingenous about hearing the phrase "I'm in an awful way" song over and over to the sound of a mariachi trumpet.

Another One Goes By - The Walkmen - A Hundred Miles Off - 2006

Here's The Walkmen covering that Mazarin song. Hamilton Leithauser's creakier voice gives the song a somewhat more rough-and-tumble feel than the original, but otherwise it's pretty much a dead on cover.

Airbag - Doveman - Stereogum Presents OKY: A Tribute to OK Computer - 2007

I downloaded this album out of curiosity, but without much hope for the possibility of a bunch of Stereogum-y artists ability to recreate my favorite album (yes, I'm that cliche). Happily, more than a few of the songs actually work...this one however, not so much.

They've slowed it way down and made it delicate. The guitar has been replaced by a tinkling piano line, the vocals are whispered, the drums, brushed...it's not bad per se...just boring.

After the Goldrush - The Flaming Lips - The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young - 1989

This song is probably a lot less surprising now than it was in 1989. We are now pretty aware of the fact that the Lips can be delicate and melodic, as well as messy with the sonics. Other than some gratuitous drum fills and a little dialed back noise guitar, this is pretty much a faithful cover with Wayne doing justice to the Neil's vocal style.