Tribute to Love & Rockets

Covers are always a tricky thing. I tend to be underwhelmed by them, for the most part, but I’m always willing to give them at least one shot. If the original track is powerful enough, sometimes it can survive even the sloppiest of attempts to cover it. On the other hand, even the best track can be botched if someone doesn’t ‘get’ what it was about in the first place. So when listening to a cover, I cross my fingers and hope for the best.

If the original track was by Love and freakin’ Rockets, it’s an even riskier proposition. You’ll never be as cool as Daniel Ash, so there’s no point in going down that route. L&R have such a unique and distinctive sound, you’ve really got to make these songs your own to win anyone over. The fact that The Dandy Warhols, The Flaming Lips and Frank Black are involved is more than promising, however.

Unfortunately, their interpretations aren’t available on the Myspace site devoted to this new tribute album, New Tales To Tell: A Tribute To Love & Rockets. In fact, the covers that are available for streaming seem to be – strangely enough – artists that *aren’t* on the official track listing. Go figure (though it’s possible they’ll be included on a bonus disc). There are some interesting wild cards on here, like Better Than Ezra covering ‘So Alive’. Wonderful or tragic, tell me you don’t want to hear that! I’m also interested in hearing the contributions by Snowden and A Place To Bury Strangers.

The tribute album will be available in digital form on July 28th, and physical formats including a special blue & red ltd edition vinyl will arrive on August 18th. In the meantime, enjoy some original L&R goodness.

Love & Rockets – No New Tale To Tell

http://www.myspace.com/loveandrocketstribute

TRACK LISTING:
All In My Mind – Black Francis
Holiday On The Moon – Puscifer (MJ Keenan)
Love Me – War Tapes
No New Tale To Tell – Blaqk Audio
I Feel Speed – Dubfire
Inside The Outside – The Dandy Warhols
Kundalini Express – The Flaming Lips
Life In Laralay – Sweethead
An American Dream – Film School
The Light – A Place To Bury Strangers
Mirror People – Monster Magnet vs Adrian Young
Fever – The Stone Foxes
No Big Deal – Frankenstein 3000
It Could Be Sunshine – VEX
So Alive – Better Than Ezra
Lazy – Chantal Claret vs Adrian Young
Sweet F.A. – Ian Moore
No Words No More – Snowden

Tags: black francis, frank black, love and rockets, the dandy warhols, the flaming lips