If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Danny Clinch I feel like it's been a while since we've brought you a cover song here at If It's Too Loud..., but luckily this one is worth the wait. Country/rock/folk icon Lucinda Williams has announced an upcoming album in her Lu's Jukebox series, and this one is Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road.  The first song we can hear from this project is a cover of the George Harrison song "Something." "Something" is one of the greatest songs ever recorded, and it's virtually impossible to record a bad version of it. Considering the talent that Williams possesses, it shouldn't be a surprise as to how good this version is, but it's somehow still surprisingly great. Williams sticks with the formula and doesn't change up much from the original, and ends up crafting a simply great cover. You can listen to Lucinda Williams' cover of "Something" below. Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road  is du...

Photo via Facebook I usually don't share live videos unless they are professionally shot or recorded. It's not always a fair reflection of a band or their live show. But, it's been a long time since we've shared anything from Wyn Doran, or her new band. Plus, this one is really great. Wyn Doran has formed a new band, Wyn & The White Light. The trio just played The Burren in Somerville, which included a cover of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby." The cover starts off much like what I'd expect a Wyn Doran cover of "Eleanor Rigby" to sound like. It's a dark and moody version propelled by Doran's vocals. Plus, the cello is a great touch. And then the song kicks in with a much more rock focused version of the song. Wyn & The White Light do the loud/quiet/loud thing from there, making this an indie rock with cello and killer harmonies version of one of the most well known songs in The Beatles' catalog. You're going to want to che...

Photo via Facebook Wyn Doran is known around these parts for her gorgeous and absolutely heartbreaking songs. "Eleanor Rigby" is already a sad, mopey kind of song. Put "Eleanor Rigby" in Doran's hands, and it becomes even more sad, almost soul crushing. Gone is any shred of the sappiness in any McCartney song (I'm a huge, huge Paul McCartney fan, but the man does love his songs dripping with sap) and instead it's injected with Doran's trademark gloom. But Doran's gloom almost feels a little tongue in cheek here, kind of like how The Smiths and The Cure had fun with their reputations and made some of the most fun sad music of all time.  Wyn Doran explains her cover and the accompanying video: " Things got weird in my apartment Friday when I last minute asked my husband if we could cook up a Halloween The Beatles  cover video of 'Eleanor Rigby'... I quickly scrambled to lay down a live audio take with my iZotope  Spire, dug out my Beat...

A ska/pop-punk cover of a Beatles classic is something you already know if you want to hear. Orange County's Half Past Two have chosen to cover "I Will," which is one of the most underappreciated Beatles songs out there. The original is a quiet, slightly upbeat ballad that may very well be the first ever twee song. Half Past Two's version is restrained for ska/punk, but definitely more upbeat than the original. This is a 90's throwback ska song, sounding more like Reel Big Fish or Save Ferris than earlier ska. It's a ska cover of a Beatles song, and in the tradition of ska covers of classic rock songs, this is purely fun. You can watch the video for Half Past Two's version of "I Will" below. Something Blue , the new EP from Half Past Two, is out today. You can get a copy via Bandcamp . For more on Half Past Two, check out their website .

There's nothing I have to write about the importance of The Beatles and their influence on the entire world. Vintage aficionado Joel Paterson agrees, and he's set to release an entire album of Beatles covers. The first single is a cover of "Michelle." "Michelle" isn't very high on my list of personal favorite Beatles songs, but this cover is spectacular. It's vintage sounding and instrumental, with guitars being the focus. There's a bit of a surf edge to it, and it's fun to hear a song we're all so familiar with reimagined this way.  JD McPherson wrote the liner notes for the album, and he describes it this way:  “Each of Joel’s interpretations of these songs are concise, genre-bending, stylish tone poems, mixing both Joel’s and the Beatles’ own century-spanning inspirations into one zesty musical stew." You can listen to Joel Peterson's version of "Michelle" below. Let It Be Guitar! Joel Paterson Plays The Beatle...

One of our favorite things about Matt Pond PA were their love of covers, since, as we always remind you, we're pretty fond of cover songs here at If It's Too Loud... Matt Pond's love of cover songs remains intact with his new project, Spaceland (name subject to change). The latest cover he's given us with this name is a great version of The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun." Covering The Beatles can be tricky since die hard fans will freak out about any change or just the fact that an artist is daring to try. Spaceland do a fantastic job, slowing down the song slightly and giving it a bit of a spacey feel. It's the perfect kind of cover song since it stays completely true to the original while adding just enough of their own sound to it to make it worthwhile. Plus, the song comes at the perfect time since the extended winter we've been experiencing in the Northeast United States appears to finally be over. You can listen to Spacelend's version ...

Photo via Facebook Without any true rhyme or reason, Howard Stern put together a 50th anniversary tribute to The Beatles' iconic album Revolver. Airing on his Sirius XM station, the tribute featured the kind of artists you'd expect Stern to recruit: James Taylor, Jewel, Cheap Trick, etc. Sticking out to me apart from the rest was J Mascis. Not being a subscriber to Sirius XM, I figured J's version of "Doctor Robert" would be lost to me. Luckily, Dinosaur Jr archive site FreakScene.net  has posted it on YouTube. Now... this isn't exactly Mascis' finest work. The song feels just a wee bit overproduced with a string section coming in out of nowhere, and he's trying to harmonize the vocals too much. No one is really listening to Mascis for pretty vocals. But the last minute and a half is just pure J Mascis guitar solo heaven. At the very least, it's an interesting curiosity, and a must listen for any fan of Mascis and/or covers. You can listen to...

I don't believe Sean Lennon has previously outright rejected being compared to his father the way other musicians with famous musician parents have, but he never actually encouraged it. That seemed to change earlier this year with the release of The Claypool Lennon Delirium's Monolith of Phobos , his most Beatles-like work yet. Back in August, the band (which also includes Les Claypool, obviously) played at the House of Blues in Boston. I wasn't able to make the show, but luckily WGBH's Front Row Boston  did, and they captured an absolutely mind-melting cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows." It's a pure psychedelic showcase for Lennon. He basically has the voice of John, the guitar chops of George, and the noise rock pedigree of someone who's toured with Sonic Youth. It's nearly eight minutes of wonderful, and you need to hear this. What's truly bizarre is that Sean Lennon has been dismissed for just about two decades as just being John Lennon'...

Last week, I canvassed you all to send me some Beatles tracks, and you absolutely delivered to the tune of a collected 75 or so unique tracks. Man, you guys really love your Beatles. The playlist below constitutes the 25 tracks that were the most unique and that, at the time, I didn't recognize (and "Paperback Writer" because it's a good song I did know). I should send a special shout-out to co-blogged Ken who sent his own 11 song playlist , and friend Gabe Rollins who sent an enormous 50 song playlist that I'll have to dig into sometime soon. As for what was sent over for this specific project? It turns out that I like the more experimental Beatles stuff a lot less than I thought I would, for one. "A Day In the Life" in particular was sent a few times, and, well, that was a bit of a slog for me. The "Write Songs With Indian Instruments" era that I dabbled in as well didn't quite work for me, either, but I'd imagine that...

So, if you've paid attention to music news over this holiday time, you've heard the big news that The Beatles are on the streaming services now. So here's my dirty secret: I'm not a big Beatles fan. Kind of weird, since I love a lot of music that apes the Beatles sound, and all that. It's not to say the Beatles are a bad band, but I've never been able to get into them. For example, my favorite Beatles song? "And Your Bird Can Sing." Kind of weird, right? The Big Super Duper Hits don't really do it for me, either. But this isn't about the Beatles, but I figured with our readership and such, maybe you can help me change my mind. So here's what I want to do: either here, or on our Twitter page , or over on Facebook , leave a comment with a Beatles song you think I should know. Maybe it's a big hit I should reconsider, but I'm really more looking for those hidden gems that I might have missed along the way. In a perfec...