AV Undercover is a great series and a wonderful idea: invite bands set to tour through Chicago to come in to the AV Club offices and perform a cover from a list of 25 songs chosen by editors and readers alike. The catch is that the later a band comes in to the offices to perform, the fewer songs they have to choose from, which can end up with ridiculous things like Calexico covering "Danger Zone."
The 2012 slate, like those before it, was peppered with some great - and not so great - covers. I put in the arduous research of listening to each of this year's entries (even more than once!) and have here my 10 favorites, ordered alphabetically.
I apologize in advance for the Starbucks commercials you'll have drilled into your skulls.
father john misty - "do you realize??" (the flaming lips cover)
J. Tillman does the original a lot of justice here, which isn't something you always get with this series (for better or worse). The fit is natural, though: FJM is something of a psych/country/rock hybrid effort, and exploring that psych side here yields some pretty results.
grouplove - "party hard" (andrew w.k. cover)
Yeah, it's those dudes that had a song in a iPod commercial, the ones who've seemingly found a niche between a twee sound and commercial success. You wouldn't normally marry that idea with Andrew W.K., but what these guys do with this song is really fun to me. I'm a reverb sucker, too, so that doesn't hurt, but their harmonies are really on-point. And the bloody nose thing is a funny touch.
the hood internet - "back on the chain gang" (the pretenders cover)
Substituting Rick Ross grunts for the "hoo, hah" part of this chorus is hysterical to me, but on the whole, this is another instance of a band covering a song while putting plenty of their own influence into it. The vocals don't always do it for me, but when they hit, they hit pretty squarely. Again, though, the Rick Ross thing.
hospitality - "rikki don't lose that number" (steely dan cover)
It honest-to-goodness sounds like a song this group would have as an album B-side. The match-up is too good. Steely Dan music is usually really technically difficult to pull off, but bass and guitar alike flow almost effortlessly. It's just a really great cover.
punch brothers - "just what i needed" (the cars cover)
I love the Cars, and turning this into a rollicking, bluegrass-y tune that each of the five guys seems to have a blast performing. It's well-played, well-sung, and has a showdown between a violin player and banjo player. Watch the whole thing and see what I mean. Probably the most fun of this year's covers.
reggie watts - "panama" (van halen cover)
It's Reggie Watts. You were expecting a faithful cover? Worth watching just because the guy's ridiculous as always, channeling some Wesley Willis with actual singing ability and a full awareness of the irony.
shearwater/sharon van etten - "stop draggin' my heart around" (stevie nicks/tom petty cover)
I mean, my hopeless crush on Van Etten and desire to be reincarnated with Meiburg's voice aside, there's a lot of talent going on here. This one actually kicked off the series for the year, and was a great precursor for the rest of the season.
trampled by turtles - "rebellion (lies)" (arcade fire cover)
Word to the wise: you even go near this song, you'd better be good. The original is one of my all-time favorites off of one of the best albums I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Turning it bluegrass is daring, but these guys are so good at it, I don't mind the tiniest bit. They have the necessary violin, and the banjo serves as a nice go-between from rhythm to melody. The backup chorus harmonies don't always do it for me, but the rest of the song does without fail.
the wood brothers - "pyt" (michael jackson cover)
This is just...good. It's not MJ, but it's still got something of a sassy sound to it. Nothing much to add. Just a really well-done cover that's almost a total departure from the original but manages to work fine on its own.
young the giant - "ignition (remix)" (r. kelly cover)
Dude, these guys rented fur coats to do this song. Bonus awesome points off the bat. And then the cover is good while managing to be fun; being self-aware while doing something like this goes a long way.
You can check out the
2011 and
2010 (which includes my all-time favorite, the Swell Season covering Neutral Milk Hotel) sets, too!
