Allo Darlin' – Covers (2013)

Allo Darlin' was one of those bands I had heard of already before moving to London, but it was here in London where I truly started listening to them. They're a local band, so they were easy to spot in record stores, in posters etc. Allo Darlin's nerdy twee pop is very similar to the Scottish band Belle 7 Sebastian and especially their early albums. My first album by the band was Europe that they had released around the time when I moved to London. I bought it at the legendary Rough Trade East, where I also got this Cover album as a bonus CD. There are some unlikely covers from bands such as AC/DC and Ramones, but also from bands that must've been huge influences on their sound, such as The Go-Betweens. I always like the covers that are very different from the original more than the ones that basically just repeat what has been done before.



This is actually one of the few bonus CDs that I've actually listened to quite a lot. Sometimes the bonus CDs are nice curiosities, but they're not the kinds of CDs I would pick from my record collection. This cover album on the other hand has some really nice tunes. I think, if you plan to make a bonus CD, making a cover album is a great way to tip your hat off to your idols and show how different compositions might sound like if they were your own songs.

The album starts with a cover of Dive for Your Memory by The Go-Betweens. The intensity of this song is very low. It's outright lazy, which I kind of like. It's the type of nerdy indie pop that I fell in love with when I started listening to Belle & Sebastian. I've only started getting into The Go-Betweens quite recently, so I don't really remember the original song. City All to Himself, originally performed by Eux Autres is a bit more high tempo song with excellent raw electric guitar sounds. The original is a bit more lo-fi, but still the versions are not different enough. They basically sound like just the same song, which is a bit boring. The Wu Tang Clan by The French on the other hand is quite different version from the original. The original is a lo-fi electronic song with very low intensity whereas the Allo Darlin' has interpreted the song with their endearing trademark twee pop style. I feel like the irony of the song becomes even more apparent in this version. Then it's time for my favourite song on the album, I Wanna Be Sedated, originally performed by Ramones. The Allo Darlin' version is very lo-fi and only played on high guitar chords that almost sound like ukulele. This is exactly the kind of thing I love about covers. The next song is similarly fantastic. Atlantic City by Bruce Springsteen is a commercial sounding stadium hit, but Allo Darlin' has made it into a simplistic lo-fi indie pop tune in their own style. It's really difficult to even realise which song this is until they get to the iconic end of the chorus. The last song is also a brilliant one. You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC is played on this album by just a ukulele and clear female vocals, which makes it sound completely different even if the song is very recognisable in any form you play it.

The album cover has a wind turbine on the cover, much like the album Europe, which has wind turbines in the form of EU flag. It's really sad to think about the enthusiasm about Europe by this London band from today's perspective when UK has chosen to leave the EU and turn its back on all the possibilities that the free movement brings. But more about that when I write about the Europe album.

Listen to the album on Bandcamp.