Cover To Cover: Shocker in Gloomtown

Here we are again. Thanks for coming.

So I personally have a lot of ideas for songs to cover (did you see what I did there?) on this thing but I’m always willing to take suggestions. By that token, the song that I’ll be covering today comes from a suggestion from my friend Dave. Dave sent me a list of some ideas and I really liked the idea of tackling this one.

This time around, I will be discussing a song called “Shocker in Gloomtown.”

The Original:

This song was originally written and recorded by the Dayton, Ohio based indie rock band Guided By Voices. GBV was formed in 1983 by singer/guitarist Robert Pollard. The band is quite prolific, having released (as of this writing) 40 full length albums in their career. Their debut album was the 1987 LP Devil Between My Toes, released in February of that year. They have another album coming out next month. Universe Room is scheduled to be released on February 7th.

“Shocker in Gloomtown” was recorded for their 1993 EP The Grand Hour. The thing about GBV is that they were a band that I had obviously heard of and listened to now and again but was never really into per se. I have actually been listening to them a lot more lately. At least over the last couple of months. I have found a lot of stuff of theirs that I enjoy.

The Cover:

“Shocker in Gloomtown” was covered by another Dayton, Ohio based band, The Breeders. The Breeders were formed by Pixies bass player Kim Deal. She formed the band with Throwing Muses co-founder Tanya Donelly. It was formed as a side project for Deal while she was still with the Pixies. Their debut was Pod, released in May 1990 by 4AD.

Their cover of the GBV song was recorded for their 1994 EP Head To Toe, released in July. It was the follow up to their massive hit album Last Splash. That EP also included another cover. The Sebadoh song “Freed Pig.”

I’m a fan of The Breeders. I’ve seen them live only once. I saw them open for Nirvana during that band’s final tour.

The Verdict:

First off, I want to say that I really like the original. I’m really digging the the almost, I dunno, “lo-fi?” sound of the way it was recorded. I like the guitar tone and the way Pollard’s vocals come across in the song. The song overall has an almost British Invasion garage rock sound to it. Part Kinks? Part The Who? I dunno. Something like that.

And then there’s the Breeders version. The first time I heard this version I thought that it almost sounded like a completely different song. The band really played it in a way that made it sound like it was their own. One things I noticed was that the bass guitar was more prominent in this version. That would be Josephine Wiggs by the way. Really good bass player in my opinion.

Now, which one do I enjoy more? This is difficult because I really like them both. However, in the end I gotta go with the Breeders version. Their version is more upbeat and fun. I listened to both versions multiple times and I have to admit that while listening to the Breeders version, I found myself smiling and tapping along more so than I did with the original. On top of that, while no offense intended to Mr. Pollard, I really like the vocal delivery on the cover more.

I had a rough time with this one. I listened to both versions quite a few times and I just have to go with the cover. But what about you?

So that is it for this issue of Cover to Cover. Hope you enjoyed it. Hope to see some comments on here. I’d really like to know what you think of this little series.

See you next time.