Tags
Alan Jenkins, crazytrain, Die Buben im Pelz, Isaac King, Jason Alarm, Joe Ladyboy, Keith Klingensmith, Lou Reed, Nick Luna, picondemulo, The California Honeydrops, The Feelies, The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground and Nico, TM Collective
Back in the mid-1980s Polydor started re-issuing the Velvet Underground’s back catalogue on a budget line series. I stumbled across a promo copy of the famous banana cover debut while doing time at my early morning show on the University of British Columbia’s CITR student radio in Vancouver. The cover initially grabbed my attention but it was the tunes that sent me to A&B Sound after the show to buy up the band’s first two albums. I was both intrigued and confused. Songs like “There She Goes Again” and “Sunday Morning” were totally in my melodic rock wheelhouse but others like “I’m Waiting for the Man” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties” were a bit out there for me. I was certain of one thing though. This band was cool personified. Four decades later The Velvets remain a touchstone for indie bands who continue to cover their tunes as a rite of hip passage. This post draws from a wide range one-off song covers and VU tribute albums to recreate their 1967 debut with Nico.
Things kick off with Austrian band Die Buben im Pelz’s version of “Sunday Morning,” sung in German (rendered as “Sonntag Morgn”). Their take is more muted than the original but still just as sunny and wistful. The band actually give the whole album a German twist, even replacing the iconic banana with a bratwurst sausage. New Jersey’s The Feelies cover a wide range of the Velvet’s material on their live Some Kinda Love LP, including a propulsive take on “I’m Waiting for the Man.” By contrast, the Chrysanthemums lead guitar man Alan Jenkins has put together a great collection of instrumental covers of VU songs, including a trebly take on “Femme Fatale” that leans heavily on the whammy bar. Jason Alarm takes a different approach to covering the band, keeping their lyrics but abandoning their tune on “Venus in Furs” for his own more rollicking composition. Another departure from form comes The California Honeydrops whose version of “Run Run Run” slows things down and gospels things up. Side one closes rather quietly with crazytrain and a whisper folk treatment of “All Tomorrow’s Parties” that really highlights just how pretty this tune is.
Side two should start with a cover of “Heroin.” But try as I might I couldn’t find any version that did not emulate the original a bit too closely. So instead we go back to the source – Lou himself – and a 1965 demo that Reed and Cale recorded and mailed to themselves as kind of ‘poor man’s copyright’ protection. 50 years later the unopened envelope was discovered and had to be released so here is Lou Reed pre-covering himself. Next up a Spanish language rip through “There She Goes Again” from picondemulo, complete with Bond-esque intro guitar work and fun sing-along background vocals. TM Collective are cover song superstars so when they turned their attention to the Velvet Underground I had to give every track some serious scrutiny. Here I love Keith Klingensmith’s jaunty run over “I’ll Be Your Mirror,” with its sunshine pop vocals, guitars and keyboards. For something a bit different there’s Joe Ladyboy’s synth-driven interpretation of “The Black Angel’s Death Song.” Wrapping things up on side two, another selection from the TM Collective VU covers collection, this time Isaac King doing “European Son.” But wait, there’s more. A tribute wouldn’t be complete without something a bit kooky. How about barbershop Velvets? Got it right here with Nick Luna’s “Velvet Underground Barbershop Medley.” Take that hipsters.
In our ever changing world some things remain constant. I mean, as long as young people search for authenticity in popular music there’s always going to be someone covering the Velvet Underground. See, there is hope.
It is great to see acts come out of the woodwork stronger than ever. The Feelies never raced up the charts when they originally hit the scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s but, like the Velvet Underground, they seemed to inspire just about every one of their fans to start their own band. Their original, laid back distinctive guitar sound still seems fresh today. Their soon to be released album, In Between, however, is a bit of departure, with stronger, heavier guitar sound on the pre-release single “Gone, Gone, Gone.”Gone, Gone, Gone 
Toronto’s Hidden Cameras continue to release curious reinventions of all manner of traditional poprock. Home on Native Land features a great hooky alt country sounding single in “Don’t Make Promises,” a song that wouldn’t sound out of place on any number of Dwight Yoakam releases. The most recent album also features a remake of “He is the Boss of Me,” a song from HC’s earliest release, 2001’s Ecce Homo. I remember buying an early release of the CD at one of their shows that contained felt marker writing on the disk and a colour photocopied sleeve. The original version of the song is great but stark in its DIY economism. The new version is rich and frankly, voluptuous, by comparison, which really showcases what a great song it is.
Aimee Mann is back with a new album, Mental Illness, one she claims will explore the acoustic pop sound of the 1960s, with back up from Jonathan Coulton no less. I say claim because at present we have just the one pre-release single to go by, the exquisite “Goose Snow Cone.” But if her track record recommends her, it’s going to be great. In another entry we featured her anti-Trump single “Can’t You Tell” as well as few tunes from her collaboration with Ted Leo in The Both. And her last solo album, Charmer, was solid, with nary a track that wasn’t worth paying 99 cents for. Mann has a distinctive songwriting and performance style, and her lyrics are smart though sometimes confounding (which is good – it gets you thinking). Check out the clever wordplay in her 2014 stand alone single, “I’m Cured,” with its low key acoustic guitar accompaniment that features some nice accordion and piano slipping in as it goes along.Goose Snow Cone
On the something new front, The Molochs are an outstanding 1960s re-invention from Los Angeles. Their just released new album, America’s Velvet Glory, is so cool you’re going to have to handle it with gloves. The transformation from their 2013 indie debut, Forgotten Blues, is pretty impressive. The latter is a enjoyable DIY affair but the latest release exudes a kind of uber confidence that says you won’t touch that dial. The influences are many but I hear Lou Reed in the Velvets in the vocal style while the sometimes spare accompaniment reminds me of a number of early 1980s indie bands. In a world of single song downloads, this is an album worth buying. If I have to single out a few songs, I’d note “That’s the Trouble with You,” “The One I Love,” and “No More Crying.”
Poprock Record 