So, like just about everyone, I’ve had my fantasies of musical competence, even of musical creativity. Sometimes I’ve even fantasized about being so good people might drop a looney or two in a bucket set up by the front door of a café where I’m playing. In my absolute wildest dreams, I’ve even managed to convince a few gullible people who can actually play real music to make me a part of their band, and then have people show up to drop a looney in the bucket to see my band play.
But unlike most of the people that I know, I don’t have fantasies of playing rock and roll. Unlike a significant minority of people I know, I also don’t fantasize about playing orchestra or symphonic music. No, I (futilely) aspire to something much different.
I aspire to play something best described as dirty lounge-punk. It’s not something you come across very often. The band Cake has some lounge tones in it. Maybe you could describe cake as lounge-alternative, but in no way could it be called lounge-punk. No, lounge-punk is so rare, even though I actively search for it, I’ve almost never heard any. That’s even before you hit the sub-sub genre of dirty lounge-punk. But a couple of days ago, I nearly hit the jackpot: Nadéah, a performer also of Nouvell Vague, did me right by covering the Dead Kennedys’ Too Drunk to F*ck. To be sure, this is clean lounge-punk. But hearing Nadéah and the other artists put together such a perfectly lounge version of this quintessentially punk classic sent me wild anyway. For your enjoyment:
If you like her work in this, she also graces youtube with a great lounge cover of Billy Idol’s Dancing With Myself (as part of Nouvelle Vague) and a straight-up cover of Mercedes Benz (under her own name) that Joni Mitchell might have recorded herself. Seriously. It’s amazing how much she sounds like Mitchell at times.
I Have Forgiven Jesus says
In the 90’s there was a band called Black Velvet Flag, whom were on Go-Kart Records. I think they mostly did lounge covers of punk songs
Siobhan says
Ooooh
Giliell, professional cynic -Ilk- says
Well, my dream was always to stand singing at the corner with a sign that reads “Will stop once I reach 100 bucks”
rq says
Giliell
100 bucks? Please. Set yourself some higher goals.
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I first heard Nouvelle Vague as part of pre-showing music at a local independent theatre, and fell in love. They do a fine job with a lot of diverse music and transform it into fantastic laid-back lounge music. I think my first big favourite from NV was “Guns of Bristol”.
Crip Dyke, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden says
Guns of Brixton do you mean? Nice. Going to go give it a listen right now!
…bzzzzzzzzz…
…back now! Yup, really like their version. The voice she uses, communicating someone holding as much anger out of her voice as possible, but unable to eliminate it entirely, that was very well chosen, very well done. I wonder if she was looking at a CBS executive when she recorded it?
Probably not. It was 2003: she could have just seen Bush on the news.
Crip Dyke, Right Reverend Feminist FuckToy of Death & Her Handmaiden says
Shiv, #2:
Was that oooh for the Black Velvet Flag number, or for Nadéah?
rq says
*ahem* Yes, Brixton. *nkhm*