Originally by Jimmy Cliff

All posts in the month of August will be covers.

This one is actually a cover of a cover and probably requires some backstory. 

The song is originally by Jimmy Cliff and was released in 1969. In 1974, Harry Nilsson and John Lennon recorded an album called Pussy Cats, in which they covered Jimmy Cliff, as well as several others, like Bob Dylan and Jimmy DeKnight. Wikipedia tells me this was Lennon’s “Lost Weekend period,” which explains the rowdy feeling the album has.

Turns out, The Walkmen are huge fans of the Pussy Cats album and joked about covering it. Then, as all good jokes do, it went way too far, and they actually recorded a song-for-song cover of the album.  Releasing it only 5 months after their last “proper” full-length album. 

So, cover of a cover.

There are several decent songs on the album, but for me Many Rivers To Cross, is hands down the best.

Originally by Bruce Springsteen

All posts in the month of August will be covers.

Atlantic City is easily one of my favorite songs of all time, if not the favorite. Hell, it was the first song posted here. So it's no easy task to make a version of this song I’m going to like, but The Hold Steady did.

The piano intro is a great melancholy intro, exactly what you would expect for this song, then the balls kick in. It's such a perfect ape of the “big Springsteen” sound. 

How I’ve avoided posting JTE before now is beyond me. 

The time I heard of Justin Townes Earl, he was opening for Lucero. He was great live, and I bought his first record, “The Good Life,” that night. A year or two later, “Midnight At The Movies” came out, and I wasn’t thrilled with it. It lacked the old-timey/honky-tonkness of the first record. But it slowly won me over, and eventually eclipsed “The Good Life." 

The same thing happened when "Harlem River Blues” came out. I heard a few songs and immediately dismissed them. And now I’m on my fifth or sixth listen through the entire album in as many hours. 

The Plague Sermon - IV 

This band is great when they’re not growling or screaming like they’re being murdered. When they are, it's just ok.

End Measured Mile is the album I’ve been waiting for Small Brown Bike to make for the last ten years.

I really liked this band’s first 2 records (this song is from their 2nd record, Ghost Stories), but they kind of fell out of my periphery. Now and then I’d remember them, check something out, like it, and move on. That’s where this band existed for me, for years.

Then a friend became a Larry Arms die-hard. Well, die-hard might not be a strong enough term; dude was in deeeeep. And because I’m a dick, this turned me off the band. It's hard to keep perspective when someone says every song and every album Larry Arms has is better than any other song or album ever. No one had any perspective, he thought they were Jesus with a guitar, and I thought they were just another ok, but so what band.

The fact is, they are a great band, and I slept on them. Probably not god-like, but good.

Two-piece band from LA. I honestly found these guys twenty minutes ago via a Hydrahead tweet, but I’m totally sucked in.  

More music can be found on their SoundCloud page, and there are a few videos on the band’s website. 

Now I need to find a way to justify a $25 lp.

Not owning this record (in its original, unremixed form) is grounds for excommunication. 

Essential. 

A joke side project band with a pot/basketball themed album and song titles. The release is called “Chicago Bowls,” and the song titles are “Scottie Spliffen,” “Luc Bongley,” “Michael Jordank” and “Tony Kukush.”

Despite (or because of, I’m not really sure) the weed puns, I’m pretty into these 5 songs. I’m sure the Freaks and Geeks samples are helping push this into awesome status.

You can get it for free at either the band’s Bandcamp page or at their blog. 

I know almost nothing about this band; I can’t even remember for sure how I found them. What I do know is that Sport is some French dudes playing great punk/indie/emo (or whatever this stuff is called these days) with some post-rock touches.

You can get their demo on Bandcamp.

Edit: I figured out how I found them, heavybootsmusic.tumblr.com

For whatever dumb reason, I’ve always slept on this band. I bought their first album at some point in 2006/7 because No Idea was selling it for $2. I listened, thought it was ok, then forgot about it. 

Dumb. 

This is from the band’s second album, and if I had been paying any attention, Glass and Ashes would have been one of my favorite bands.

Members went on to be in Young Livers, who also broke up after 2 albums.

I’m going to be honest here, I’ve never gotten this band. I missed their run, as I was too wrapped up in old punk dudes putting out country/folk records and drone metal. They seem to have achieved this status as one of the greats, and everyone talks about how good they were (on the internet, in small “punk rock” related pockets), and that turned me off. But I kept giving them chances, but it never did much for me. 

Since then, I’ve fallen deeply in love with one of the bands that came from Latterman’s breakup, Iron Chic. A couple of other great bands have emerged post-break-up, chiefly (for me anyway)  Bridge and Tunnel, and Rvivr. So I decided to give Latterman another go.

Finally, I get it.