Ok, so I generally like cover records because they are fun and unpredictable. You hear a lot of songs you love mixed in with songs you've never heard before, especially for the Minnesota Beatle Project....which name seems self-explanatory for what the project is about. I mean, The Beatles have suuuch a huge back log of songs, there is a ton of work to choose from.
The problem is that a bunch of them sound like covers. Soul Asylum does 'Good Morning, Good Morning' and god, they really shouldn't have. The Beatles got to do it because it was totally sincere, they wrote it. But Soul Asylum just sounds like a cover, its really not fun or exciting. I almost feel like I have to go song for song on this one........
01 Good Morning Good Morning – Soul Asylum Already talked about it, not a fan, super unnecessary.
02 Revolution – Total Babe Better, they tweak the melody so it works for them, still just a cover, but a good execution of a good song.
03 Child Of Nature – Mason Jennings Great. Like the Total Babe track, its an execution of the song, stripped down a little to service Mason Jennings, but he is pitch-perfect for this song.
04 Fixing A Hole – Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons It's Not Cory Chisel's fault that I don't really like this song much. Actually I prefer this cover, he pulls in the long minor notes so they don't rings in my ears and sound sort of sour. Big thumbs up for updating the tune.
05 Real Love – Lookbook The first example of a couple on this record of how contemporary The Beatles writing can sound. Plus a female lead vocal compliments Lennon's melody excellently.
06 Happiness Is A Warm Gun – A Night In The Box I love this song, the original is so great. Just little vignettes of songs, all of which I would love to hear in their entirety. This doesn't disappoint at all, an extremely faithful replaying of the song. Boosh.
07 It's All Too Much – Polara The Beatles are just so relevant today, and this tune is exactly why. It is so easy to forget that Polara didn't write this song, it sounds like something someone written yesterday and its an awesome song. The original is all sorts of layered and progressive with the percussion, almost back beating. I just love this one.
08 Tomorrow Never Knows – Meat Puppets feat. Alison Scott Fuzzy and warm, but I think this falls into the area of Beatles' songs that I don't really care for.
09 I Am The Walrus – Pert Near Sandstone Bluegrasse-y cover of 'I am the Walrus'? Sounds great! No, not really. By the end you just feel like this band had no business playing this song. And maybe no one does.
10 Michelle – The New Standards This is another real winner. Chan Poling has a deep, mournful, maybe even a little aggressive voice that really embodies what the song is about. Which is sort of creepy and unromantic, if you think about it.
11 And Your Bird Can Sing – Rogue Valley One of the more precious Beatles songs, an admirable execution.
12 Dear Boy – P.O.S. Timeless melody can demand updating. The layered vocals and electronic slow drum beat make this song sound brand new, even when those elements are all in the original. If anything it highlights how progressive The Beatles were, making sounds and effects that still sound contemporary. Just excellent.
13 I Want To Hold Your Hand – Edison High School Light and fun and a little less energy than the original but still lovely. If I didn't know it was a cover, I would think this band was amazing at the 60's throwback. But I know, so it still sounds like a cover.
14 Golden Slumbers – Communist Daughter I would have thought this would be an obvious 'cover' sounding song, cause I just love the original so much. But man, Communist Daughter owns this version, it is theirs, unequivocally. Just as good as the original at least.
15 Hey Jude – Sounds Of Blackness Soulful-choirs and shit, horns and hand-clapping. A little tropical beat in the background. Really nice. Honestly I have no frame of reference for this sound, so I can't say whether Sounds of Blackness would have written this tune, but I think that they probably excel at re-imagining songs rather than writing their own. So hey, this is their forte!
16 Good Night – Curtiss A’s D’Lando Flaques-Ffaire *Rockestra Another of my faves. Not many groups have actually written great lullabies. Its a weird art to make a melody that's both soothing and universally singable. I was listening to the original for comparison and I just had to listen to it all the way through, because it is just so sweet and sincere. That being said, I wasn't quite as riveted to the cover (I'm not really sure what is a name and what is The Name of the Band...Curtiss A's?) but the singer has a nice rickety kind of voice, older David Bowie sounding, matches the song nicely and I enjoyed it there. And there's a little guitary 'Here Comes The Sun' riff as a hidden track at the end.
Okay! Minnesota Beatle Project Vol. 2, this post felt like it took forever to write but it's out in the world now and there is no stopping it! If you love The Beatles, any one of these bands, or are from Minnesota (which not all of the bands are on this volume, but close enough) consider buying the record. Find out more about the project and the bands here.
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