Saturday Covers #14

As I've mentioned it several times before, I expect many of you will know that I am a massive fan of Squeeze. So how do I react when I discover that one of their greats, "Up The Junction," has been covered several times? All is revealed in Saturday Covers #14.

Essentially, Squeeze are the best pop band, ever. "What about The Beatles?" I hear you exclaim. Oh yeah.

If we put aside my rather confused opinions, we can take a look at Up The Junction, one of Squeeze's finest and most successful singles. Up The Junction has all the qualities that make up the perfect pop song. Very memorable melodies, unconfrontational instrumentation, a sprinkle of humour... simply, it's perfect. One of the reasons I love Squeeze so much is just because all of their earlier songs were perfect. All of them. I love it.

Squeeze - Up The Junction (mp3, 3.3mb)

Cover number one comes from a radio session by that Scottish band we all love, Travis. It's probably the strongest cover of all the ones I'm featuring here. However, although strong, I think Travis lose points on interpretation, of which there's practically none. They've done nothing to vary it from the original, aside from making it acoustic, which I suppose is fine when the performance is as good as it is, but if all covers were like the original we'd get bored very quickly. Never mind, it's still a great cover. So far so good.

Travis - Up The Junction (mp3, 3.1mb)

This cover is somewhat of an oddity. The View's version of Up The Junction is probably the most entertaining one there is. It sounds like The Proclaimers trying to play ska, and that's a very, very, scary prospect indeed. The View, who usually stay away from anything vaguely unlike indie folky stuff, have really gone the full way here, and for that I admire them. They're actually the last band I would've expected to stray away from what they're comfortable with, and they've done a highly interpretive, very entertaining cover of Up The Junction. Well done to them.

The View - Up The Junction (mp3, 3.0mb)

Umm, yeah, Lily Allen. There's a contraversial topic. Just so no one gets the wrong idea, I don't like Lily Allen's music. However, Lily Allen did not write Up The Junction, so it's OK listening to her cover of it. And, as unbelievable as it may sound, this drug dealing boob-flashing young girl has actually pulled off quite a nice performance of the song. Good for her.

It's Lily's singing style that gets me. She doesn't sing, she talks, and most people can talk. OK, it's very elegant talking, but I think it's still talking. On this cover of Up The Junction, the talking is just as prominent, but it does add a new edge to the song that's not really been explored before. It's alright I suppose, but I wouldn't like to listen to an entire album of it. Luckily I don't have to, so I'm perfectly happy with this.

Lily Allen - Up The Junction (mp3, 1.5mb)

Goldfinger! Weren't expecting them amongst all the mainstream popular artists were you? Well, they're my final featured band today, and my goodness have they done a good cover. This was a vinyl-only track on the split they did with Reel Big Fish. It's great. They've kept the original humour of the song but completey "Goldfingered" it. It sounds like they could have easily written it, but unfortunately they didn't. But really, this cover has it all. Little breaks, backing harmonies, pretty offbeats, guitar solos... the list is endless. This just proves Goldfinger's awesomeness once again.

Goldfinger - Up The Junction (mp3, 3.7mb)



Bands that have covered it that couldn't be featured:

• Lawnmower Deth (you don't want to hear it, really)
• Chris Difford's new version (he was in Squeeze, duh)
  
• Jim Bob (not really that great...)
• The Decemberists (only live, it's not a big deal)

Shopping
Squeeze
Travis
The View
Lily Allen
Goldfinger Can someone please tell me why Goldfinger no longer have a proper website?