"Piece of My Heart" by Melissa Etheridge

If you listen carefully at the 3:40 mark, you can hear the sound of Melissa Etheridge's vocal cords snapping like the overtaxed serpentine belt on a yard tractor as she belts out this song made famous by Janis Joplin.
 

"Soak Up The Sun" by Judah & The Lion

 

What in the "Rainbow Connection" is this?

I don't know what I was expecting from Nashville rock band Judah & The Lion, but a banjo intensive remodel of Sheryl Crow's song of happiness through hardship wasn't it.  

It's good, though!  Just... surprising for a band that draws comparisons to Jimmy Eat World and Twenty One Pilots. 

I didn't look up the lyrics, but the second half of the chorus sounds like they're crooning "Every time I fellate my lucky dog."

Which makes me look at Sheryl in a whole new and entirely disturbing light.  

And you KNOW that those are the words I'm singing every time I hear this.  Maybe you will, too!  Maybe something's wrong with you, to sing this song the way I do!

"Break My Stride" by Jessica Mauboy

 

Australian actress Jessica Mauboy lent her vocals to this remake of Matthew Wilder's 1983 New Wave motivational speech for her television series "The Secret Daughter."  I've never seen the show, but it got great reviews, and the first season is on Amazon Prime, so... (shrugs).

The lyrics "Ain't nothin' gonna to break my stride/Nobody gonna slow me down, oh no/I got to keep on moving" show that neither Jessica nor Matthew Wilder (who looks eerily similar to Stanley Tucci after dropping the mop top and villain from Miami Vice 'stache) have ever witnessed Lawrence Taylor play football.

"Beggin" by Måneskin

 

Måneskin were the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in late January, and opened their two song set with this remake of the timeless Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons tune.

I didn't see the second song that they performed, because I fell asleep, because I'm hella lame.

If they just repeated this song to close out their SNL appearance, I don't think that anyone in the audience would have complained.

"Cherub Rock" by Fruit Bats

 

When it comes to the leadoff position, "Cherub Rock" is like Jimmy Rollins.  Powerful, and setting the tone for the rest of the songs to come on The Smashing Pumpkins' sophomore effort "Siamese Dream."

With the possible exception of "People of the Sun" by Rage Against The Machine (depending on mood, of course...), it's the best opening track I've come across.  The pounding beat and swirling guitars are flawless, and extend a hard to resist invitation to check out the rest of the melodic post-grunge that Billy Corgan and crew churned out in their Lollapalooza headlining days.

The Fruit Bats' dream-folk cover lacks the power hitting of the original, but, as a leadoff to their Siamese Dream tribute album, was exceptionally good.  Maybe comparable to Ichiro Suzuki.  

The vocals on this one, though?  I have a suspicion that Billy Corgan wore a hairpiece and gave himself the pseudonym Eric Johnson, kind of like CEOs do on the show "Undercover Boss."  That singer HAS to be Billy Corgan, right?

To support my theory, when's the last time that you were at a party, and both Billy Corgan and "Eric Johnson" were present?

I rest my case.

"Dilemma" by Sigma

 

Leeds drum and bass duo Sigma (with the help of Kate Stewart) take Nelly's hit club track and, somehow, make it sound like a commercial for Tahitian Treat soda.

The twosome were fortunate that Sigma was the Greek letter that they chose for their band moniker.  If they had called themselves "Omicron," somebody would have burned down their house by now.

"Milkshake" by Buddy

 

Here, if Kelis has a milkshake, and Buddy has a milkshake, and Daniel Plainview has a straw. There it is, it's a straw, you see? Watch it. Now Daniel Plainview's straw reaches across the room and starts to drink Buddy's milkshake. He ... drinks... their... milkshake. He drinks it up!

When Los Angeles quintet Buddy aren't busy covering Kelis songs, they can be found passing through the seven levels of the candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly-twirly gum drops, and then walking through the Lincoln Tunnel.