We Are KING Cover David Bowie

Photo by Kanya Iwana

There are a quite a few David Bowie covers out there, for good reason. Bowie's music remains timeless, and his influence will always be felt in music. BBE Music has an upcoming David Bowie tribute album due out in May, but instead of the normal rock and pop oriented artists, this compilation will feature Bowie's connection to R&B, jazz, funk, and gospel.

The first song up is We Are KING's version of "Space Oddity." You've heard covers of Bowie's 1972 hit before, but never quite like this. We Are KING keeps the feel of Bowie's original, and even amplify the space feel of the song. This is a space soul/R&B version of "Space Oddity." It's unusual and unexpected, but everything about the man was, too, so this is a very fitting tribute to the late icon.

Amber and Paris Strother of We Are KING explain their choice of "Space Oddity": 

“There were so many amazing Bowie compositions to choose from but ‘Space Oddity’ has always been our favourite. It's so visual; it has always felt like time travel in a song. t tells such a vivid and imaginative story of Major Tom's trip through space and it was such a cool experience to reimagine what it'd be like on the voyage.”

You can listen to We Are KING's version of "Space Oddity" below. Modern Love, BBE Music's David Bowie tribute album, will be out May 28. It will also features covers from Khuangbin, Meshell Ndegeocello, Matthew Tavares, and more. For more on We Are KING, check out their website.

Forgotten Fridays: Manapop - Rubbing Doesn't Help

Forgotten Fridays is an occasional feature here at If It’s Too Loud... where we go back and find the lost records of our glory days. We played these on our college radio shows, put them on countless mix tapes, and then forgot they existed. We go back and remind you of their existence, and help decide if they were any good.

I've become a huge fan of Spotify's daily Time Capsule playlist. It's always a good thing to put on when I just can't pick, especially on a long drive. I typically get a good mix of alternative and hip hop classics of my youth, although they do give me the same three Beastie Boys songs too often or try to trick me into listening to the Grateful Dead sometimes. Every so often I find a forgotten gem, which is what happened with Magnapop recently.

Magnapop formed in Atlanta in 1989. Since then they've consistently featured the songwriter pair of Ruthie Morris and Linda Hopper. They first came to my attention with 1996's Rubbing Doesn't Help, which came out around when I first started my time in college radio. It's an album of power pop heavy alt-rock, and fit right into my tastes at the time. What's shocking is how the songs on Rubbing Doesn't Help don't sound dated. In fact, they sound like quite a bit of the current music we bring you that's considered alt-pop now. It's incredibly catchy songs with fuzzy guitars, and what else do we really want with music ever? If you think you've heard Magnapop before but aren't really sure, it's probably because of "Open the Door," which was a minor hit in its day. The opening line of "Everything is good these days but all of my friends are dying" is what kickstarted my memory of Magnapop.

Turns out that except for a hiatus between 1997 and 2002, Magnapop have stayed together and have consistently made music and toured. Their most recent album was 2019's The Circle is Round.

Friday Freebie: Gregory Childs & Heart Lung - Baby Blue

The latest EP from Toronto's Gregory Childs & Heart Lung may be more of a single than an EP (it's only two songs), but it still demands your attention. The two songs that make up Baby Blue are alt-country at its finest. "Baby Blue" and "Blood Ties" sound dirty. "Baby Blue" sounds like it might have some positivity behind it, but "Blood Ties" is almost impossibly dark. It's the kind of song you may need to take a shower after listening to. Both sound like if Bob Dylan signed with Bloodshot Records.

You can listen to "Blood Ties" below. Baby Blue is available as a free download via Bandcamp. The band is promising a full length album in mid-2021. For more on Gregory Childs & Heart Lung, check out their website.

Kelly Duplex - "Shreveport"

Every now and again we come across a new band that with just one single, we know we're going to become obsessed. The song is just so strong that we immediately drop everything and fall into a wormhole for that band. The latest is Kelly Duplex. The New Orleans band have issued a new single, "Shreveport." It's just three and a half minutes, but Kelly Duplex cram a career's worth of music into that time. It's a heavily 90's indie rock influenced track, and sounds like if you combined Archers of Loaf with Weezer (90's Weezer, I should specify...) The song is frantic at times, melancholy at others. But the entire thing is obsession worthy.

Bandleader Shane Avrard says of the new song:

"Shreveport is an examination of unexpected loss and how we carry it as an un-shareable weight for (what seems like) an endless amount of time- falling into the hindsight trap of feeling that we should have seen the unexpected as an inevitability. It’s about the pieces of ourselves we choose to shed for better or worse and accepting that as a form of loss as well. Reflecting on the shared losses that can come to define our relationships and the vulnerability of navigating a path forwards when what we want to avoid is the thing we’re reactively trying to carry alone."

You can listen to "Shreveport" below. Kelly Duplex's self-titled album is due out on February 12 on Strange Daisy Records. You can pre-order a copy via Bandcamp. For more on Kelly Duplex, check them out on Facebook.

The Weather Station - "Atlantic"

Photo by Jeff Bierk

Tamara Lindeman's project The Weather Station has released one of the more interesting singles in recent memory. "Atlantic" is nearly a dance/pop track. It certainly has the beat and groove for that, but it can hardly be considered pop. "Atlantic" is artsy as hell, and contains too many organic elements to be considered a dance track, even though it is. Instead of electronic music, the song contains little bursts of woodwind and strings that you would never expect. Plus, Lindeman's vocals are captivating and unique, but hardly what you would expect in pop or dance. It's truly a unique song from an artist that is going to demand our attention.

Tamara Lindeman says of the new song:

“Trying to capture something of the slipping feeling I think we all feel, the feeling of dread, even in beautiful moments, even when you’re a little drunk on a sea cliff watching the sun go down while seabirds fly around you; that slipping feeling is still there, that feeling of dread, of knowing that everything you see is in peril. I feel like I spend half my life working on trying to stay positive. My whole generation does. But if you spend any time at all reading about the climate situation circa now, positivity and lightness are not fully available to you anymore; you have to find new ways to exist and to see, even just to watch the sunset. I tried to make the band just go crazy on this one, and they did. This is one where the music really makes me see the place in my mind; the flute and the guitar chasing each other, wheeling around like birds, the drums cliff like in their straightness; I love the band on this one.”

You can watch the video for "Atlantic" below. Ignorance, the upcoming album from The Weather Station, will be out February 5 on Fat Possum. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on The Weather Station, check out the artist's website.

shame - "Snow Day"

Photo by Sam Gregg

As we continue to play catch up from last year, we bring you the latest from shame. The UK band released a new single last month, and "Snow Day" is a must listen despite how long we've been sitting on it. The song is a noisy post-punk mostly spoken word track. The music has this jerky aspect to it and just builds a sense of dread and foreboding for the listener that never quite pays off in a giant eruption, which is its own pay off. It's very reminiscent of bands like Slint and Rites of Spring without just rehashing those bands' style. The song plods around at times, and will give you aural whiplash at others.

Frontman Charlie Steen explains the song: "A lot of this album focuses on the subconscious and dreams, this song being the pivotal moment of these themes. A song about love that is lost and the comfort and displeasure that comes after you close your eyes, fall into sleep, and are forced to confront yourself."

You can watch the video for "Snow Day" below. Drunk Tank Pink, the upcoming album from shame, will be out January 15 on Dead Oceans. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on shame, check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

Housebound Ska Collective Covers Rage Against the Machine

We've been obsessed with Brass Against's covers of mostly 90's metal anthems, particularly their Rage Against the Machine Covers. Similar, but completely different, is this cover of "Killing in the Name" by Housebound Ska Collective. A giant collection of musicians worldwide from bands like Unknown Era, Lead Shot Hazard, Joker's Republic, Fighting Evil is Cool!, etc., Housebound Ska Collective are obviously a band that formed in quarantine and are collaborating from their own homes. As with all ska covers, it's a fun, upbeat version of the Rage Against the Machine classic. A lot of people are going to hate this and consider it heresy, but others are going to find it fun. You already know which one you are.

You can watch the video for Housebound Ska Collective taking on "Killing in the Name" below. For more on Housebound Ska Collective, check them out on Facebook.

Molly Burch featuring Wild Nothing - "Emotion"

Photo via Facebook

I've been completely obsessed with Molly Burch's music the past few years. Her blend of indie folk and crooner/doo wop music hits such a sweet spot for me. When I saw she had a new song out for the New Year, I was obviously thrilled. When I first heard "Emotion," I was slightly confused. Gone was the sound I have grown to love. "Emotion" is a straight up disco song. The new song sounds like that period in the 90's when people finally realized how great disco actually was, but slightly updated. "Emotion" is a collaboration between Burch and Wild Nothing, which helps explain the more dancey sound, although this song is really dancey. Luckily, it's great, and we still have Burch's magnificent vocals, which is going to elevate any song to greatness. 

You can listen to "Emotion" below. The song is available now via Captured Tracks. You can get a copy here. For more on Molly Burch, check out her website. For more on Wild Nothing, check out the artist's website.

The Endorphins Cover The Cars

We always love covers here at If It's Too Loud..., but we have a special fondness when a Boston band covers another Boston band. The latest example of this is The Endorphins taking a crack at The Cars' "Moving in Stereo." The Cars are always a favorite for bands to cover (with good reason), but it's an interesting choice for a self-described "punk/psych/grunge" band. The Endorphins' version leans more heavily into the psych side of things, although it's definitely laced with punk and grunge, especially with the vocals. While The Cars' original is very shiny and new sounding, The Endorphins run "Moving in Stereo" through the gutter and dirty it up a bit.

You can listen to The Endorphins' version of "Moving in Stereo" below. The song is available now as a free download via Bandcamp. For more on The Endorphins, check them out on Facebook.

Mikaela Davis & Mary Lou Lord Cover Elliott Smith

Last year Kill Rock Stars had artists cover songs from Elliott Smith's eponymous album for its twenty fifth anniversary. This year is their thirtieth, so they're having artists cover songs from their entire thirty year history!

The first one is going to grab us immediately. Any time Mary Lou Lord covers Elliott Smith, we're going to gleefully pay attention. (Just check out her version of "I Figured You Out" to see why.) But then add Mikaela Davis into the mix, and it's impossible not to check this out and love it! The duo's version of "Some Song" is a more fleshed out version of Smith's bare bones original, but any time you can blend Smith's biting words and Lord's lovely vocals, it's a win for all involved. 

Mary Lou Lord says of the song: "I first heard 'Some Song' among the many early Elliott songs. I am from Salem, MA, and Halloween has always been a big deal in my hometown. I chose “Some Song” because it’s so haunting, and also very human. I love this song because it’s slow-burning and very intense, and I think it describes a certain human condition of madness and normal. A mask, but one that can be removed or put on at any given time."

You can listen to Mikaela Davis and Mary Lou Lord's version of "Some Song" below. Stars Rock Kill (Rock Stars) will be released single by single throughout the year. Confirmed artists include Mike Watt, Eyelids, Fruit Bats, Califone, MAITA, and more. You can find out more information and pre-order on Kill Rock Stars' Bandcamp.