Inspired by the
last Bangles album, I have been looking again at Susanna Hoffs’s extra
curricula catalogue but this time with some foreboding. I did this once before following The Bangles’
break-up in 1989 and bought her solo effort ‘When You’re a Boy’ but it didn’t
do much for me, hence the slight anxiety.
But this time I have chanced upon her collaboration with producer and
multi-instrumentalist, Matthew Sweet and this time it was worth the money.
Sweet and Hoffs, or
Sid ‘n’ Susie as they are billing themselves, have tapped into their love of
the 60s and 70s and created a series of ‘Under the Covers’ releases (two
volumes to date). Volume 1 spans the
1960s and mixes well known songs like ‘Monday Monday’ and ‘Alone Again Or’ with
lesser known efforts from the big hitters of the day like the Beach Boys (‘The
Warmth of the Sun’), The Zombies (‘Care of Cell 44’) and a killer version of
The Beatles’ ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’.
The prickly subject
of covers has been aired numerous times in this blog and it bears stating here
that these are not deliberate re-workings of the original songs but more loving
reconstructions, done with infinite care in a totally modern environment – no
analogue and sticky tape here. What
really sets them apart from the blueprints is the vocal performances which are
nothing short of awesome from both Ms Hoffs and Mr Sweet and despite having
vocal tones at opposite ends of the scale they combine beautifully. You can almost hear the fun they had doing
these songs which are clearly close to their collective hearts.
Dare I say that
Hoffs’ take on ‘Who Knows where the Time Goes’ is on a par with Sandy Denny’s
original? It works, yet somehow you
don’t expect an American voice to gel with Fairport’s quintessentially English
folk sound. Sweet struggles a bit with
the Wilson falsetto on ‘Warmth of the Sun’ but his rasping performance of Neil
Young’s ‘Cinnamon Girl’ is a great cut, as is his interpretation of The Who’s
‘The Kids are Alright’. Let’s face it,
this is not high art in the accepted sense but nor is it downmarket karaoke but
something in between. Mainly, it’s a fun
record made by people with talent and a real love of their subject matter and
one that I shall return to on a regular basis.
So with Volume 1 in
the bag, I may well have to have a look at Volume 2 which majors on the
1970s. I couldn’t resist having a listen
to their take on a surprising choice of Yes’s ‘I’ve Seen All Good People/Your
Move’, and am staggered to report that if Susanna Hoffs is not the next Yes singer,
I’ll eat…something. She really nails
it. Is there nothing she can’t
sing? And with Clapton’s ‘Bell Bottom
Blues’ and ‘You’re So Vain’ on the setlist, I don’t think I’ll be resisting for
long.
