Nothing like another quiet, calm week to really give one a sense of perspective… sweet fucking Josephine, shit is off the rails lately. In the midst of all the craziness this week, found a couple nuggets worth relaying, though. First up is this cover by former Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser of former Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan’s track “The Song with No Name.” The song is part of the upcoming compilation record Philia: Artists Rise Against Islamophobia, which will have tracks from the Dodos, Fruit Bats, and Vetiver among others. It’s a pretty great cover — Ham singing almost anything is a recipe for success, but particularly an Irish folk tune. Check it out here:
Next is a cover by the Afghan Whigs that Pitchfork posted of New Orleans band Pleasure Club this week. It’s from the latter band’s second album The Fugitive Kind and was recorded in honor of the recent passing of the Whigs’ guitarist Dave Rosser. On its own it’s a solid listen — Dulli’s vocals and mood smolder somewhat seductively before the song breaks into a glorious roar midway through — but even moreso since it’s from a band I’d never heard of. First, check the cover (and download it for free here if you like it):
That got me wondering, though, about who the heck Pleasure Club was and how they’d escaped my notice, so did a little research and really dug what I found. It was a short lived outfit — frontman James Hall and Co only released two albums, the aforementioned follow on and their debut, Here Comes the Trick, between 2002 and 2004 and disbanded around the time Katrina tore their hometown apart. Hall has done some solo stuff since then, but that was it for the band — which is a shame when you listen to the albums. It’s pretty great stuff — Hall’s voice has a reedy, punky swagger that feels instantly familiar and sounds right at home behind the muscular power of his rhythm section.
And that power is considerable. The band flat out rips — the debut album is chock full of winners that’ll have you cranking the volume and thrashing along — and I’m real glad the Whigs helped me find em. The best place to start is the beginning — they get you from the outset on their debut with the barnburner “Permanent Solution” (the opening line is “I was born into a terminal dive” — try to argue with that) and you’re rolling from there. Everything else is just extra speed on the highway. Buckle up and enjoy the ride: