Ancient Babies
“Epic and bouncy, filled with clever lyrics, bleeps, blips, complex chord structures, blazing keys, and enough pop hooks that would catch enough fish to feed a very large colony of dolphins” - You Don’t Know Jersey, Best of NJ 2018
Usually, when a band covers a song, they try to make it just like the original. So isn’t it a thrill when a cover transforms a song into something new? Think of Devo’s cover of “Satisfaction”, which twists a rock anthem into quirky robot-pop. Or - do you remember Dread Zeppelin?
In Under the Covers, Ancient Babies lovingly reshapes five pop hits into their own brand of theatrical, progressive dance rock. Much of the music is changed, and they rewrote the lyrics for good measure. Each old song is recognizable but sounds brand new!
Come as You Are - The grunge anthem becomes a Euro-dance hit that opens out into a cheerful new coda. Its lyrics are now about the wonder and tragedy of Kurt Cobain.
Dark Horse - Did you understand what Katy Perry was singing about? Me, neither. Well, now it’s sung from the perspective of a real-life Dark Horse - Donald Trump. He sings to the wealthy, selfish men who created Fox News to make themselves even richer... and the blowback from their propaganda. For good measure, the Babies have added a dreamy, creepy fantasy middle section that builds to a bombastic finale. And an intro that references “Comfortably Numb”.
Working for the Weekend - Does anyone know what this 80s rocker was originally about? Not us! So we felt free to make our version about working for the weakened. Another rock anthem becomes a dance hit, with new words about how everyone’s getting woke and working to stop inequality.
Der Kommissar - After the Fire’s cover of Falco’s original starts with a beautiful introduction featuring a delayed guitar. It’s so lovely that the Babies just sampled that and made it into the whole song.
My Heart Will Go on - The Babies covered this song without once listening to the original. It’s now a pensive seven-minute piano dirge that ponders the possibility of life after death during an age of science.
The album was recorded in the attic of a house in New Jersey, an apartment in Brooklyn, and a secret room in an office in New York. Ben played many things, Ian played guitars, and Ian and Ernesto added vocal harmonies. Bryan Russell (Paul Simon, Starlight Run, Envy on the Coast) co-produced and mixed it in Nashville. It will be released on Mint 400 Records on April 12.
RIYL: Onward Chariots, The Pilgrims, They Might Be Giants, Cake, Ben Folds, Adam Green
TRY: #3, 2, 1
Download full album here:
https://www.piratepirate.com/downloads/
More Info Here:
http://www.mint400records.com/
https://ancientbabies.bandcamp.com/
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https://twitter.com/mint400records
https://www.facebook.com/ancientbabiesmusic
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