Released: February 5, 2021
We all know covers are a tricky business. So many fall into one of two categories: Too little of the covering artist or too little of the covered artist. Jim Bob’s short collection of covers somehow manages to do both at once. There are some great punk and new wave tunes here, but too often they differ with the originals in only the most superficial ways. “Clash City Rockers,” for instance, is played straight with a jarringly out of place count in. Why? Who knows. “Because the Night” lacks the personality of either Patti Smith or Springsteen. “Baby Baby” could have been any run of the mill local punk band who knows enough to know the Vibrators. Mostly, the album just feels amateur. That may pay a small dividend on “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” but it’s not special enough to recommend the record as a whole. It just never feels genuine.
You’re right, too little of either the covering artist or the original makes for a bad cover. It’s interesting though how covers–even bad ones–are often how younger audiences find older songs. From that perspective, it’s pretty cool that even weak covers become like a form of oral storytelling that passes history down to younger generations.
Interesting point about the storytelling. When I was 14, I bought a record called Mystic Radio Presents Covers (Our Favorite Bands Mutilate Your Favorite Songs). It was one of the first punk records I bought. The record was a mixed bag of run of the mill to outright bananas covers, but it was the first time I’d heard some classic songs that I grew to love later in their original form.
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