When your first introduction to a band is a cover song an initial opinion is typically made pretty quick, and there was no exception with Pure Ecstasy.

Winter time is the time of year, oddly enough, when I gravitate towards reggae…I bust out my Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, Soul Jazz and Pressure Sounds comps, Scientist LPs, and The Abyssinians…but I honestly don’t own anything by Toots & The Maytals…that didn’t mean I wasn’t familiar with “Pressure Drop.”

“Pressure Drop” is one of those songs that if you have the slightest interest in reggae as a genre you have probably heard(or maybe you have heard one of the many covers of it), and to hear a cover coming from a fuzzy indie band I can say at the very least I was skeptical, but I shouldn’t have been.

But Austin, Texas’ Pure Ecstasy hit this one right on.  Pure Ecstasy manages to stay true to both the song itself, and to their own sound.  While it’s not clean cut that it is a cover of a reggae classic, but the tone and vibe manage to remain true to the original.  On top of this Pure Ecstasy manage to incorporate their lightly fuzzed out mellow pop into it, and let both sides shine.  In my opinion they accomplish everything that should be present in a good cover song.

[mp3] Pure Ecstasy- “Pressure Drop”

• originally appeared on Friendship Bracelet Club Vol 2. (get that here)

Bringing Pure Ecstasy back to their own tunes is the track “Easy”  the A Side off of their 7″ on Light Lodge Records.  I was able to pick this 7″ up when I saw them play at Bruar Falls with Twin Sister last month (which is also where these pictures were taken).  “Easy” showcases Pure Ecstasy’s laid back indie pop, and has been playing on my iPod way before I got the 7″.  I’m so used to short songs these days, and everytime I play “Easy” I forget that it is a four minute jam…mellow, and long enough to let you truly get into it and relax.  Just when you think the track is over it goes into a ambient drone with just a vocal melody…and the then the guitar kicks back in to finish out the song… a perfect end to the track.

[mp3] Pure Ecstasy- “Easy”

• Buy the Easy from Light Lodge Records here.
  • buy their the very limited repress of their Future Nostalgia 7″ here.
  • pre-order their new 7″ Voices here.

After listening to “Easy” you can really see that Pure Ecstasy’s sound really does shine in “Pressure Drop.”  Looking forward to more from these dudes.  I know their trip to NYC wasn’t the best…some asshole had to steal their guitar.  I really hope they will be back.

Pure Ecstasy tour dates can be found here.

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The photos of Pure Ecstasy were taken on January 29th, 2010 at Bruar Falls.  These photos are from the White Lodge.

• more posts featuring photos from the White Lodge can be found here.

It’s not often you hear two three bands cover the same song with in a week of each other, but with Halloween quickly approaching I guess it’s not a surprise that the Misfits are out in various forms.

I’m actually really happy to be hearing covers of the Misfits, because although I hadn’t thought about it until recently the Misfits are one of those punk bands, especially down south, that gets embraced by frat boys.  Where you might be walking past a Frat house, and hear it blasting loudly out of the windows.  Nothing wrong with this, but not the punk rock mentality I had when I was rocking it in eighth grade…and after all the Misfits weren’t all that great after Walk Among Us.

The first cover was a little more out of left field, and came from the pop group A Sunny Day in Glasgow, who are headed by Ben Daniels.  I haven’t put on a Misfits’ album in years, but this cover seems to be popping up on my iPod quite a bit these days.   It’s an interesting more upbeat take on the goth punk classic, and in my opinion done really well.

[mp3] A Sunny Day In Glasgow- “Hybrid Moments”

During all of the CMJ craziness I was fortunate enough to make it into the Matador/True Panther showcase at the Suffolk last Friday night.  The Suffolk was a weird space with a lobby area that felt like a warehouse,  a tiny little bar, a theatre that had random bleacher seats on the side, and a smoking area that wasn’t much bigger than my living room which had formerly been covered in sand.  The space was pretty empty, but the owner of the space (not Matador) was freaking out, and said it was at capacity.  People got let in slowly, but friends of mine waited in line for well over an hour.

It was all worth it for Cold Cave (more to come on them later), and Ted Leo. This was my first time seeing Ted Leo, and while I have known about his music for a long time this year is the first time that I have really gotten into it.  I knew that Ted Leo had been associated with the punk scene, and put out numerous albums on the new defunct Lookout! Records, but when listening to his unique voice and great guitar on your stereo you don’t necessarily realize that his shows are very much punk rock.

Ted Leo played an amazing set, and the second to last song was…you guessed it:

Ted Leo- “Hybrid Moments” live at the Matador/True Panther Party at The Suffolk

Please excuse the shakiness…I got a little bit moshed, and as you can see by the end of the video security wasn’t so happy about the moshing/stage diving…I guess they deserved it for being so up tight about letting people in.  Ted Leo really knows how to bring it.

And while I’m at it…the original:

This puts me in the mood for pumpkin carving… tonight.

UPDATE:

Ryan over at Catbird Seat just posted another version of “Hybrid Moments” in the comments.  This time it is the Minus Story.

[mp3] Minus Story- “Hybrid Moments”

this version appears on the Minus Story’s Heaven and Hell.  Buy it here. This is the most mellow of the four versions, and makes me think that I should probably be checking out more music by the Minus Story…a great introduction! Thanks again Ryan.

Links:

• Buy releases by A Sunny Day In Glasgow here.
• Buy releases by Ted Leo here.
• Buy the Misfits’ Static Age here.
• Buy releases by Minus Story here.

Charlotte, friend of Los Campesinos! and part of Judy and the Blumes, recently did a cover of the Los Campesinos’ track “Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time”.   Initially I’m skeptical of covers, but if they are good I embrace them…and Charlotte’s is extremely sweet sounding and impressive.  A wonderful minimalist rendition of one of my favorite tracks from We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed.

Charlotte, thank you for sharing with Gareth so that we can all enjoy it:

[mp3] Charlotte- “BST (GMT +1)” (Los Campesinos cover, via LC!)
Buy the original here.  See Gareth’s post here.

Los Campesinos!‘ have finished recording their new album, but while we are waiting for new songs we can still get some new recordings (of old songs).  On July 3rd Daytrotter released a really wonderful five song session with Los Campesinos!   I’m happy to hear these alternate versions, and think the session turned out great…check it out:

[Stream/mp3] Los Campesinos!’ Daytrotter Session!

More on Los Campesinos! here.