Well, despite what people thought (well, I thought), we have made it to the end of another week, relatively unscathed. So let's celebrate with a cover EP that puts a maudlin yet mischievous spin on a bunch of "classics". Coming from a band that calls themselves "nightmare pop", it probably isn't much of a surprise that New Orleans duo Bent Denim have launched Derivative Works, six tracks of stripped back, "earnest" takes on the likes of Blink-182 ('Dammit'), Taylor Swift ('Shake It Off') and somewhat incongruously, contemporaries Elvis Depressedly ('Weird Honey'). I really enjoyed this - the shifts in tone really contort the context of these songs. It may not be the type of EP Ill continue with for long - 'Dammit' starts to play like a Death Cab-lite novelty after the warmth starts to disappear - but their muted-unmuted swing on Angel Olsen's 'Unfucktheworld' and a reimagined Galaxie 500 with 'Tugboat' reminded me just how good those songs were, and have me scrabbling for the original. And 'Shake It Off'? Possibly the best restructured song on here. It's all a bit of a lark, flexing of the muscles and funnybone, and for that alone it deserves pause, and anticipation for when the boys throw their arm at their next, original, release.
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