Between the Covers

Chromatics Cover Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” Portland indie-electronica and New Jersey heartland rock collide in Chromatics’ cover of Bruce Springsteen’s slow-burner “I’m On Fire” (pun intended). The plucked beats of the cover tiptoe over a faint female voice that is more ephemerally atmospheric than the original’s bold yet soothing male vocals. Despite the gender (and possible lyrical story) change, the band keeps the smoldering passion of The Boss alive, though slightly sedated.

STRFKR Covers Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” In another gender-bending cover of a classic by a Portland electro-indie group, STRFKR had some fun with this Cyndi Lauper favorite. Keeping the delightfully '80s echo claps and electronic instrumentation, STRFKR added a thick bass line and lowered the vocals to revive the girl power anthem for a new generation and from a new gender (though the song was originally written by a man, Robert Hazard). The background music is surprisingly spot-on, but the band added their own modern instrumentation for teenagers of the 21st century, who still “come home in the morning light” and whose phones still ring “in the middle of the night,” instigating the ever-present judgment of their unfun parents.

Owl Eyes Covers Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” Ok, so we may all be a little tired of this Foster the People song that has taken over radio and brainwaves – but sometimes the best way to liberate a melody that’s stuck in your head is to play it, or cover it. And that’s precisely what Australian Idol graduate Brooke Addamo of Owl Eyes did on Australian radio station Triple J’s segment “Like a Version.” (Apparently, the Aussies like their puns, too.) In the studio, the singer said she chose the song because of the more sinister substance behind the upbeat pop. Addamo and her band explored the pop hooks with keyboards, bass and glockenspiel for a fresh take on this incessantly catchy hit.

Be sure to check out:

The String Quartet Tribute to Bruce Springsteen Available now at iTunes and Amazon

Vitamin String Quartet Performs Modern Rock Hits 2011 Vol. 2

Available now at iTunes and Amazon