Nouvelle Vague
New Wave (District 6)
By Catherine Disabato
Published: June 26th, 2007 | 11:26am
Recording a good cover song is not an easy task, but when a cover succeeds it’s almost more triumphant than the cover band having written the song themselves; just look at what Blondie did with the Nerves’ mini-hit “Hanging On The Telephone” or David Bowie’s inspired live adaptation of the Pixies’ “Cactus.” Nouvelle Vague, though, are the masters of this tricky genre. They have put out several albums of cover songs, most of which succeed in creating that elusive combination of reference, recognition, and reinvention. So it’s only fitting that Nouvelle Vague put together a two-disc compilation of New Wave bands’ covers called New Wave.
Unfortunately, this collection fails to live up to its potential. Covering a song is an extremely delicate process, and if it isn’t approached carefully, the entire song will crumble. A few of the bands that are featured on New Wave have made impressive, memorable covers. The Slits’ cover of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” (an old favorite for Slits’ fans) and Duran Duran’s cover of Bowie’s “Fame” are both wonderful, poppy interpretations of already fantastic songs; both bands take the original song and make it their own. Nico’s cover of “Heroes,” a rolling, pulsing cover that also succeeds in reinvigorating an old classic with new life.
A majority of the tracks on this release fall short, though. Devo’s cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” was the most disappointing; it sucked all the life out of the song. Most of the other tracks have the same energy-sucking effect on the original, and some are just downright forgettable. New Wave has some tracks worth seeking out, but the album itself isn’t worth more than these individual hits.
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more