Indiepop Does Indiepop: Velocity Girl & Glo-Worm

Velocity Girl's "Crazy Town" covered by Glo-Worm.

Well I managed to skip a whole two weeks of it, but INDIEPOPdoesINDIEPOP is totally back, dudes! After D.C. Slumberland babies Velocity Girl made the move to SubPop Records in 1993, they released their first LP Copacetic. On this record appeared a song – the best song they ever wrote IMO – called "Crazy Town". It wasn't until about three, maybe four years ago that I actually consciously started listening to Velocity Girl, but the more I listened, the more I could remember hearing some of their songs, "Crazy Town" included, on the radio (99.1 WHFS to be exact) in elementary school, which I think is pretty neat. Teeny bits of nostalgia aside, the song was slightly later covered by a different set of D.C. natives, Glo-Worm. Glo-Worm were Pam Berry, Dan Searing, and Terry Banks, all of countless other bands before and since. It appeared as the second-to-last track on Glimmer, a Glo-Worm compilation released by K in 1996. Both versions hold their own respective special places in my heart, but whenever I watch Velocity Girl's original video for the song, I have to admit, I get a little giddy for those guitars, and Sarah's voice, and for elementary school again.

[MP3]: Velocity Girl :: Crazy Town
[MP3]: Glo-Worm :: Crazy Town

Mind the tracking! Haha...

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Indiepop Does Indiepop: The Sugargliders & The Cat's Miaow

The Sugargliders' "Seventeen" covered by The Cat's Miaow

Here we go again! A little late today, but to be honest I'm surprised I remembered at all. Today's INDIEPOPdoesINDIEPOP is a case of the cover being far superior to the original – in my humble opinion, of course. The Sugargliders originally recorded "Seventeen" for Sarah Records in 1992. It was their second single for the Sarah (67). Three years later, on their second 7" single, The Cat's Miaow included a beautiful cover of "Seventeen". The single was the second for The Cat's Miaow, and was the very first release of Quiddity Records, which would later release records from the likes of Pencil Tin, Madison Electric, Super Falling Star, etc. Basically, Quiddity were super awesome. Anyway, I said first that I prefer The Cat's Miaow's cover of "Seventeen" more than The Sugargliders original, and that is in fact true. I don't dislike the original by any means, but the cover version – with it's thick veil of reverb – makes me feel like I'm walking through the woods on a snowy day. Being that I wish I was walking through the woods on a snowy day almost everyday, this is something that makes me feel very very good. However, please enjoy both songs, and make your own decisions.

[MP3]: The Sugargliders :: Seventeen
[MP3]: The Cat's Miaow :: Seventeen

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Indiepop Does Indiepop: YMG & The Pines

Young Marble Giants' "Brand-New-Life" covered by The Pines.

Before getting to the songs, I should probably introduce what will likely be a weekly thing now (until I run out of songs, of course). I was driving home from Baltimore a few weeks ago with some friends and I decided it would be fun to play nothing but covers, and then their respective original versions all the way home. It was fun and seemed to be sort of endless, so I thought it might be something I could turn into a regular feature here, so I'm gonna try to do that! I hope you like it!

There's no better way to start it off than with the super-minimalistic post-punk of the Young Marble Giants. An interesting and difficult band to cover, but if anyone was up for the task, it was Joe Brooker and Pam Berry. Their cover of "Brand - New - Life" is kind of perfect, as far as covers go. They succeeded tremendously in making the song "theirs" to the point that it sounds like it could have easily been a Pines original. Joe's guitarwork flows beautifully, adding several brand new elements into the song, but still relying on YMG's brilliant original meldodies. Personally, though, I'm still a bigger fan of the original. That riff is totally unforgettable (you know the one) and there's just so much tension resting on Alison Statton's vocals that you cannot help but be completely mesmerized.

[MP3]: Young Marble Giants :: Brand - New - Life
[MP3]: The Pines :: Brand - New - Life

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