Middle-Aged Queers Cover Mazzy Starr

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Photo by Niki Pretti Photography

Oakland's Middle-Aged Queers are set to celebrate Valentine's Gay with a pair of shows, and have released a new single to get everyone ready. It's a cover of Mazzy Starr's iconic "Fade Into You." Gen-X's favorite make out song (which Gen-Z finds incredibly depressing) has been reimagined as a raucous punk song. It's loud and noisy, and sounds more like classic late 70's/early 80's punk than anything released this century. It's also a shockingly faithful cover to the original despite the complete change in genre. I never thought "Fade Into You" could work as a straight up punk song, but Middle-Aged Queers pull it off perfectly.

Frontman Shauners says of their latest single:

“When our bassist, Josh, came to us with the idea of covering this song, I was incredibly skeptical. He then upped the ante by persuading us to let him sing it, with me relinquishing lead vocal duties in exchange for playing bass on the track. I’m delighted with the results; it’s like we turned Mazzy Star into an early Jawbreaker tune.”

You can listen to Middle-Aged Queers' cover of "Fade Into You" below. The single is available now via Bandcamp. For more on Middle-Aged Queers, check out the band's website. They'll be playing February 14 at 924 Gillman St in Berkeley, CA and February 15 at Cafe Colonial in Sacramento, CA.

On Repeat...

The Cairo Gang - "Be What You Are"

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Photo by Rachel Cassels The Cairo Gang is mostly Emmett Kelly, who recorded most of their upcoming album, Goes Missing,  on his own while travelling. "Be What You Are" is pure pop gold, reminiscent of British invasion bands like The Kinks and The Zombies. It features jangly guitars and some of the most infectious layered vocals you've heard in years. Luckily the beauty of this style of music is that it never quite sounds dated. It might sound like it's from a certain era that happened 50 years ago, but everything you've ever listened to since then borrows so heavily from it that it always sounds current. It's the kind of music you wish you hadn't missed, only now you haven't. Goes Missing  is due out June 23rd on God? Records. You can pre-order the album now, and be sure to check out The Cairo Gang's Facebook . Listen to "Be What You Are" below, and below that are tour dates, many opening for Mikal Cronin. Sat. Sept. 5 - Portlan...
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Photo by Hanna Katrina I never thought we'd be covering a band that formed after a karaoke party doing a song about Meghan Markle, but 2019 is weird. Also, Dry Cleaning are a shockingly great band. Only forming two years ago, the band is set to release their debut EP next month. "Magic of Meghan" is obviously about Meghan Markle, but it might be the only post punk and new wave influenced song about the Duchess of Sussex. As the band says about the song: “ The song acknowledges that following the lives of those in the public eye can provide people with an escape; an outlet for difficult emotions, and subsequently help them to cope with hard times in their lives, ” says Florence Shaw. “ The song is, in part, intended to serve as a thank you to Meghan for this service (‘You got engaged on the day that I moved out. It’s ok. She’s a smasher, perfectly suited to the role’). The song also aims to highlight how the news media dissect her decisions (‘Never has one outfit bee...
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TORRES - "I got the fear"

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Photo by Ebru Yildiz Somehow TORRES keeps surprising us with her music. The musical project of Mackenzie Scott has released a new single that features her vocals and acoustic guitar that would feel at home in a neo-folk song over a pre-programmed drum beat with sounds that at times are either a light squall of guitar feedback and electronic noises. The song has this haunting and unsettling feeling to it, despite sounding like it's trying to be upbeat. I'd say art doesn't always have to be a pleasant experience, but "I got the fear" can be a pleasant listening experience, except for the times it's not. Mackenzie Scott says of her latest single: “A collective dread has been mounting. Everyone I know is having a brawl with the universe, with themselves…wars, climate catastrophe, a pandemic, the worldwide regression on human rights, the political hellscape — it affects everybody, and I know we’re all feeling it in waves of varying degree all the time. I think it’s...
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