The six LPs in this set of 60s, 70s and 80s cover versions of well known songs were originally released on CD separately as Under The Covers Vols. 1, 2 and 3. When the entire collection was released on pastel-coloured vinyl, well, I had to snag a copy.
I had a crush on Susanna Hoffs back in the very early Bangles days. But who didn’t? The line was a long one. Her voice is perfect for this sort of thing, as is Matthew Sweet’s. They harmonize well together and these carefully crafted renditions of songs they like and/or that influenced them is so much fun. I love hearing interpretations of established songs, and here they take on such gems as The Beatles’ And Your Bird Can Sing, the Mamas and Papas Monday, Monday and Mott The Hoople’s All The Young Dudes. They also take on Tom Petty, Todd Rundgren, The Ramones, Badfinger and the Allman Brothers, among so many others.
I love this set! It’s not audiophile quality - it's digital and sounds like it - but that’s not the point. It still sounds good enough and did I mention it’s pastel-coloured vinyl! My set is a solid pink, yellow and blue - like three summer shirts laid out on the bed side-by-side. I hear there's also another version with opaque purple, blue and yellow discs but I like the pastel ones better. But whatever. They look, I dunno, happy. And that’s what this is. It’s a happy record, meant to lift your spirits and take you back in time.
This all started in In 2006 when Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, recording as Sid and Susie, released Under the Covers Vol. 1, a collection of covers of their favourite songs from the 1960s that included heavy-radio-rotation classics such as the aforementioned And Your Bird Can Sing and the Beach Boys’ The Warmth of the Sun. Less familiar tunes such as Marmalade’s I See the Rain and the Left Banke’s She May Call You Up Tonight appear alongside the better known tunes, but I think that's a big plus.
Three years later Sweet and Hoffs returned to record a CD comprised of cover tunes from the 1970s that ranged from the Raspberries’ Go All the Way to Television’s Marquee Moon, quite a spread! After that they visited the 1980s - the decade in which Hoffs rose to stardom with the Bangles and Sweet began to also emerge in his own right.
They aren't looking to recreate anything new here. They're just playing songs they like, two friends in a basement somewhere or maybe in a karaoke bar trading off each other. There's nothing here that's going to blow your mind. It's just fun reinterpretations of songs you know - and some you maybe don't. Those looking for some kind of daring innovation won’t find it here. This is comfort food, not fine dining.
They are accompanied by drummer Ric Menck and guitarist Dennis Taylor, both of whom play with Sweet, and they both do a fine job.
Not every track succeeds but nothing really fails, either. If there's a problem with this series it’s that it ends. I am left wanting more. This is great fun and I hope they do it again. Maybe they'll go even further back in time to the 1950s - that might be a lot of fun - or, more likely given they seem to be covering eras they've lived through, maybe they'll go forward to the 1990s and 2000s and beyond. I hope we haven't heard the last of Under The Covers, and something tells me they'll do it again.
And maybe they'll record it in analogue next time. That would be so cool!
A great set, and it's affordable, too. It's definitely digital - but still worth having.
The six LPs in this set of 60s, 70s and 80s cover versions of well known songs were originally released on CD separately as Under The Covers Vols. 1, 2 and 3. When the entire collection was released on pastel-coloured vinyl, well, I had to snag a copy.
I had a crush on Susanna Hoffs back in the very early Bangles days. But who didn’t? The line was a long one. Her voice is perfect for this sort of thing, as is Matthew Sweet’s. They harmonize well together and these carefully crafted renditions of songs they like and/or that influenced them is so much fun. I love hearing interpretations of established songs, and here they take on such gems as The Beatles’ And Your Bird Can Sing, the Mamas and Papas Monday, Monday and Mott The Hoople’s All The Young Dudes. They also take on Tom Petty, Todd Rundgren, The Ramones, Badfinger and the Allman Brothers, among so many others.
I love this set! It’s not audiophile quality - it's digital and sounds like it - but that’s not the point. It still sounds good enough and did I mention it’s pastel-coloured vinyl! My set is a solid pink, yellow and blue - like three summer shirts laid out on the bed side-by-side. I hear there's also another version with opaque purple, blue and yellow discs but I like the pastel ones better. But whatever. They look, I dunno, happy. And that’s what this is. It’s a happy record, meant to lift your spirits and take you back in time.
This all started in In 2006 when Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, recording as Sid and Susie, released Under the Covers Vol. 1, a collection of covers of their favourite songs from the 1960s that included heavy-radio-rotation classics such as the aforementioned And Your Bird Can Sing and the Beach Boys’ The Warmth of the Sun. Less familiar tunes such as Marmalade’s I See the Rain and the Left Banke’s She May Call You Up Tonight appear alongside the better known tunes, but I think that's a big plus.
Three years later Sweet and Hoffs returned to record a CD comprised of cover tunes from the 1970s that ranged from the Raspberries’ Go All the Way to Television’s Marquee Moon, quite a spread! After that they visited the 1980s - the decade in which Hoffs rose to stardom with the Bangles and Sweet began to also emerge in his own right.
They aren't looking to recreate anything new here. They're just playing songs they like, two friends in a basement somewhere or maybe in a karaoke bar trading off each other. There's nothing here that's going to blow your mind. It's just fun reinterpretations of songs you know - and some you maybe don't. Those looking for some kind of daring innovation won’t find it here. This is comfort food, not fine dining.
They are accompanied by drummer Ric Menck and guitarist Dennis Taylor, both of whom play with Sweet, and they both do a fine job.
Not every track succeeds but nothing really fails, either. If there's a problem with this series it’s that it ends. I am left wanting more. This is great fun and I hope they do it again. Maybe they'll go even further back in time to the 1950s - that might be a lot of fun - or, more likely given they seem to be covering eras they've lived through, maybe they'll go forward to the 1990s and 2000s and beyond. I hope we haven't heard the last of Under The Covers, and something tells me they'll do it again.
And maybe they'll record it in analogue next time. That would be so cool!
A great set, and it's affordable, too. It's definitely digital - but still worth having.
BONUS TRACK
Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs have been collaborating on and off for over a decade.
Hoffs, who rose to fame with The Bangles in the 1980s, later teamed up with Mike Myers and Matthew Sweet to form Mig Tea, a sort of faux 1960s British invasion band. They all adopted pseudonyms for the project, with Hoffs using the name Gillian Shagwell and Myers creating Austin Powers. They made a number of club and television performances and had a minor hit with a songs called BBC.
Myers' then wife, Robin Ruzan, encouraged Myers to write a film based on his fictional band character and the result was Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Its success resulted in two more Austin Powers movies and Ming Tea performed in all three of them.
After Ming Tea had run its course Hoffs and Sweet teamed up under the name Sid n' Susie and recorded fifteen cover versions of classic rock songs from the 1960s for an album titled Under the Covers Vol. 1. The album was released in April 2006 and was followed a couple of years later by Under the Covers Vol. 2. In 2012 Under the Covers Vol. 3 was released, and then a box set called Completely Under The Covers - this set, which contained all three projects collected together - was released on CD and then vinyl.
Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs have been collaborating on and off for over a decade.
Hoffs, who rose to fame with The Bangles in the 1980s, later teamed up with Mike Myers and Matthew Sweet to form Mig Tea, a sort of faux 1960s British invasion band. They all adopted pseudonyms for the project, with Hoffs using the name Gillian Shagwell and Myers creating Austin Powers. They made a number of club and television performances and had a minor hit with a songs called BBC.
Myers' then wife, Robin Ruzan, encouraged Myers to write a film based on his fictional band character and the result was Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Its success resulted in two more Austin Powers movies and Ming Tea performed in all three of them.
After Ming Tea had run its course Hoffs and Sweet teamed up under the name Sid n' Susie and recorded fifteen cover versions of classic rock songs from the 1960s for an album titled Under the Covers Vol. 1. The album was released in April 2006 and was followed a couple of years later by Under the Covers Vol. 2. In 2012 Under the Covers Vol. 3 was released, and then a box set called Completely Under The Covers - this set, which contained all three projects collected together - was released on CD and then vinyl.
