Awesome Pop

During their appearance on triple j’s Like A Version, alt-pop group Magdalena Bay turned in this swell cover version of David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes. The 1980 track is one of our favorites, and Mica Tenenbaum’s warm vocals and Matthew Lewin’s killer bass and guitar do the song proud. Bonus points for the Keytar.

A24’s Talking Heads tribute album Everyone’s Getting Involved turned out to be a mixed bag. But it did give us this wonderful cover from Ohio’s indie rock legends, The National. Matt Berninger’s distinctive tired-but-still-fighting voice and the weighty drums give the song a more somber and nostalgic vibe. We actually like it more than the original.

Hot Chip stopped by the NPR Music offices for a 4-song set that included some of their best tracks. They started with Over and Over and Boy from School before slowing things down with Look at Where We Are and kicking things into gear with Ready for the Floor. Jonny Lam’s pedal steel guitar added warmth to their electro-pop sounds.

Lorde provides her take on Talking Heads’ cover of Al Green’s Take Me to the River. It’s chill and minimalist, but you can still chicken bop to it. The single is part of A24’s upcoming tribute album, which will feature covers of songs that Talking Heads played in their 1984 concert fil Stop Making Sense. The list of artists is on A24’s Instagram page.

Among his talents, musician Alex Melton has a knack for rearranging songs so they sound like they were performed by Blink-182. Here, he takes on the Journey classic Don’t Stop Believin’, and gives it the trademark sounds of late-1990s pop-punk. Can you imagine if The Sopranos ended with this version?

Like the U.S., the U.K. has had it pretty bad when it comes to the pandemic, with multiple quarantine lockdowns. Musician Brett Domino’s catchy little tune expresses his simple wish to return to some kind of normalcy with a pint of beer at his neighborhood pub – and it doesn’t even matter who with.

Punk Rock Factory has a knack for giving pop songs new life as pop-punk versions. Here, they take the 1997 Hanson mega-hit MMMBop and give the jibberish song an edge it previously lacked. From the album The Wurst Is Yet to Come, which packs 10 great covers.

We already know that Britney Spears’ songs have an underlying dark side to them. In this clip from musician Jack Baca, he transforms the pop star’s 1998 track (Hit Me) Baby One More Time into a depressing ballad about unrequited love.

Norwegian band a-Ha performs a dialed-down and emotional acoustic version of their 1985 pop hit Take on Me, giving the song a new and deeper meaning than ever before. From the upcoming album and video MTV Unplugged Summer Solstice.

Eighteen year old frontman Pablo Muñoz and the rest of Boy Pablo stupidly look into the sun in their silly music video for Everytime. The Norway-based band’s dream pop is as näive, chill, and effortless as their demeanor here.

Nathan Barnatt directed and stars in this music video which features not only one of our favorite cars ever, but turned us on to The Midnight, a fantastic LA band that blends ’80s synthwave with modern alt-pop sensibilities. See how Nathan shot the video here.

Gesu no Kiwami Otome (ゲスの極み乙女。, Girl at the Height of Rudeness) is a prog-pop band formed from sharply-dressed friends from other successful Japanese bands. The drummer’s alias is Hona Ikoka. We hope she notices us.

The Collective Cadenza is working on a series of videos that are conceived of, rehearsed, and performed in less than one hour with songs currently hot in pop culture. We especially enjoy the festive horn section and Pharrell substitute.

Walk Off the Earth, the talent behind the one guitar Gotye song, is back with an acapella rendition of Taylor Swift’s pop ditty. KRNFX’s beatboxing complements it nicely. (Thanks Christopher!)

If you’re like us, you’re still trying to unsee that Superbowl halftime show, but we’ve got a feeling if you watch The Cleverlys doing this bluegrass cover it might make you feel better. (Thanks Chris!)