Covers: “Wolf Like Me”

Don’t know about you guys, but I was really feeling Monday’s postage. First the sucker punch launch to Matt’s Bo2010, with its dash of mea culpa and refs to two of my all time favorite acronym-friendly bands, FYC and TVotR. Then the first in what I hope to be a series of posts on the oft-butchered, but occasionally mind-blowing (see: today’s entry) art of the cover. Anyhoo, in the interest of sticking with a Good Thing (see what I did there?), I thought I’d keep the threads running with a Covers post devoted to the capstone(at least according to my ears) of TV on the Radio’s four albums to date, “Wolf Life Me.” Things I love about the original: that incredibly organic yet full sound surrounding the buzz-saw rhythm section. Synths, samples, sleigh bells, sax, three singers, and at least that many guitars—such are the song’s many constituents. This makes it all the more impressive how effectively renowned two-piece Local H strip the track of all but the bare essentials, i.e., full-throttle stomp. Seriously, if the drop-dead roar out of the turn isn’t enough to get you geared, A) you’re an idiot, and B) just think for a sec about the fact that it’s a single guitar (no bass) that has you bound for the floor….