Check the comment section on any triple j Like A Version Youtube video and you can quickly learn about the art of the cover song from a horde of experienced music critics/Youtube account holders. One theme occurs in these discussions/shit-flinging contests more than any other and it unfolds like this:Commenter #1: This cover is not as good as the original. I don’t like it.
Commenter #2: Why are you so close-minded? They weren’t trying to make it as good as the original. They were doing it DIFFERENTLY. You leper.
Commenter #1: If you read my comment you’ll see I wasn’t saying it HAD to be as good as the original. I just didn’t like it. You faeces-eater.
Commenter #2: You’re a dickhead.The alternative argument occurs when someone suggests that the cover is much better than the original, to which angry, loyal fans of a more famous band (or the Arctic Monkeys) respond and bully the initial commenter into submission.We believe that you can compare a cover to it’s original without holding it accountable to every minute detail and that at least half of Youtube commenters are idiots.With Like a Version 10 due for release on October 3 we take a look at the best and worst of Like A Version of 2014 (so far).BEST"Do I Wanna Know?" - Chvrches
Divine singing and an excellent sense of melody transform this riff-driven alternative rock track into a mellow bop-along happy hour special. Taking the riff out was a necessary evil. The original is all about an angsty journey, but, although the Chvrches verses are ace, the highlight of the cover is it’s chorus."Black Skinhead" - Courtney Barnett
You’ve got to smile listening to this. It’s a song about being a powerful black man in a racist world sung by a white woman from Fitzroy. Imagine Paris Hilton singing "Black Or White". There have been criticisms of racial insensitivity on Barnett’s part, but the lyrical changes (such as “niggers” to “people”) are an attempt to be respectful. Anyway, rap meets grunge by an Aussie singer/songwriter. Pretty cool.
Australian electronica creator Chet Faker tries his hand at Chicago soul in this cover. Keeping it simple, Chet and his choir of hipsters sing along to a single electric guitar and some clapping. It’s wholesome fun for the whole family really.WORST"Killing In The Name Of" - Dead Letter Circus
You’d think a band with the name Dead Letter Circus could cover a song like "Killing In The Name Of", but it’s such an iconic track that any attempt to come close to it must fail. In such cases the best strategy is often to change the song so radically that it can’t coherently be compared to the original. Well, there’s no doubt, that is what Dead Letter Circus did. It was just really, really bad."History Eraser" - The Smith Street Band
Pop-punk amongst grown-up people SHOULD be outlawed, or at least sanctioned with contemptuous looks. This cover is too sincere, too Australian, too everything, gross, ew. The original is catchy, quirky and fun. This is just hogwash."Covered In Chrome" - North East Party House
No. No, no, no. No. This song starts out all right; the verses are just indie imitations of the original. The singer even mimics Luke Boerdam’s nasal slur and everything seems to be going along fine. BUT THE CHORUS. Imagine being stabbed in the ear with a sharp dildo. Such a nauseating spectacle has rarely been witnessed in music.
Commenter #2: Why are you so close-minded? They weren’t trying to make it as good as the original. They were doing it DIFFERENTLY. You leper.
Commenter #1: If you read my comment you’ll see I wasn’t saying it HAD to be as good as the original. I just didn’t like it. You faeces-eater.
Commenter #2: You’re a dickhead.
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Divine singing and an excellent sense of melody transform this riff-driven alternative rock track into a mellow bop-along happy hour special. Taking the riff out was a necessary evil. The original is all about an angsty journey, but, although the Chvrches verses are ace, the highlight of the cover is it’s chorus."Black Skinhead" - Courtney Barnett
You’ve got to smile listening to this. It’s a song about being a powerful black man in a racist world sung by a white woman from Fitzroy. Imagine Paris Hilton singing "Black Or White". There have been criticisms of racial insensitivity on Barnett’s part, but the lyrical changes (such as “niggers” to “people”) are an attempt to be respectful. Anyway, rap meets grunge by an Aussie singer/songwriter. Pretty cool.
"Lover (You Don’t Treat Me No Good)" - Chet Faker
Australian electronica creator Chet Faker tries his hand at Chicago soul in this cover. Keeping it simple, Chet and his choir of hipsters sing along to a single electric guitar and some clapping. It’s wholesome fun for the whole family really.
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You’d think a band with the name Dead Letter Circus could cover a song like "Killing In The Name Of", but it’s such an iconic track that any attempt to come close to it must fail. In such cases the best strategy is often to change the song so radically that it can’t coherently be compared to the original. Well, there’s no doubt, that is what Dead Letter Circus did. It was just really, really bad."History Eraser" - The Smith Street Band
Pop-punk amongst grown-up people SHOULD be outlawed, or at least sanctioned with contemptuous looks. This cover is too sincere, too Australian, too everything, gross, ew. The original is catchy, quirky and fun. This is just hogwash."Covered In Chrome" - North East Party House
No. No, no, no. No. This song starts out all right; the verses are just indie imitations of the original. The singer even mimics Luke Boerdam’s nasal slur and everything seems to be going along fine. BUT THE CHORUS. Imagine being stabbed in the ear with a sharp dildo. Such a nauseating spectacle has rarely been witnessed in music.