Some Songs Considered

“Hang On to Your Ego” – Frank Black 
(Words/music: Tony Asher and Brian Wilson, available on Frank Black, 4AD / Elektra 1993) 

Maybe it’s the fatigue of a long work week setting in, but I can’t really think of a lot of Beach Boys cover songs.  Yo La Tengo fuzzed their way through the surfy “Little Honda” and Petra Haden gave “God Only Knows” a beautifully multitracked a capella treatment a few years ago, and there’s Frank Black’s cover posted above.  I’m sure there’s more, and I’m sure you can point me in their direction.  There’s plenty of love and respect for the Beach Boys out there, but not a lot of cover songs it seems.  I wonder if this comes from a respect for the recordings just as much as the songs.  Perhaps the vocal harmonies seem daunting, and an attempt to perform the song might not feel right without the expanded instrumentation.  

Perhaps Black’s choice of song – a slightly obscure one – makes this cover more effective than others.  “Hang On to Your Ego” became Pet Sounds’  “I Know There’s an Answer” after a lyric change to scrub the song of any potential references to Brian Wilson’s experiments with hallucinogens.  Frank Black’s version hums along with pulsating synthesizers and breaks only for his distorted guitar.  The heavier instrumentation gives the song a little bite and Black’s general tone even gives the song this strange diabolical feeling – one appropriate for a song that hits at losing one’s mind.  Regardless, Black’s cover works for me, and it might be because I’m more familiar with the Beach Boys’ “I Know There’s an Answer.”  In a way, Black grabbed onto a Beach Boys song that wasn’t already tied up in their mythology, sensing enough room for his interpretation to exist.

More on Frank Black: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

“Head On” – Pixies
(Words/music: William Reid, available on Trompe le Monde, 4AD 1991) 

Even though neither Frank Black nor Kim Deal wrote “Head On,” it remains one of my favorite recordings by the Pixies.  It’s not as lyrically twisted as many of the Pixies other songs, and even though Frank Black dips into the maniacal part of his vocal register, he doesn’t sound as deranged as he does at other points in their catalogue.  Instead, it’s a two and a quarter minutes tearing through a Jesus and Mary Chain song played faithfully enough to please JAMC fans while still giving it the necessary Pixies arrangement to warrant its inclusion on their final studio disc.

Aside from running half as long (and at an increased tempo), the major difference between the Pixies cover and the original lies in the exaggerated dynamics.  The original recording mainly stays at the same volume, aside from the part where the drums cut out in the bridge.  While the Pixies cover never gets as whisper quiet as some of their other recordings (at least the ones where they earned the “loud-soft-loud” reputation that Kurt Cobain admired), the Pixies version pushes the needle into the red immediately.  David Lovering’s drums set the pace immediately with a thunderous opening roll, signaling for the guitars to charge behind him.  It’s Lovering again who sets the pace, first by cutting everything but his bass drum leading out of the chorus, settling into a solid groove when the song’s volume retreats, only to crescendo again when he opens his hi-hat.  While the guitars provide the bulk of the volume (and Black’s tone provides the most tangible gauge), it’s Lovering’s drumming that leads the band through the song.  His band mates follow along, making Reid’s song more explosive without sacrificing the melodic charm of the original.

More on Pixies: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm