"Sweet Pea" by Suntrap

 

Suntrap are a five-piece UK based band that has toured the country extensively for the better of two decades, hitting major folk festivals from Folkestone to Cambridge to Tadley and everywhere in between.  

Here, they throw down some rich harmonies on their live version of "Sweet Pea," a short and, well, sweet ditty from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania artist Amos Lee.

I love how they belt out these angelic harmonies while performing in front of a banner with an artist's rendering of a ram that looks like it's taken directly from the Paramount Plus exclusive television series "Evil."

"I Held Her In My Arms" by Alkaline Trio

 

Chicago, Illinois punk emo band Alkaline Trio paid homage to Milwaukee, Wisconsin folk punks Violent Femmes with this reboot of "I Held Her In My Arms," found on their 2011 album "Damnesia."

Fun fact: According to this science lesson for kids, anything with a pH over 7 is considered alkaline.

This page shows that humans have a very narrow range of pH values, between 7.35 and 7.45.

So.... The Police, Rush, Primus, Cream, Peter Paul and Mary?  ALL are alkaline trios.

You aren't special, Alkaline Trio.

For a cover by Violent Femmes, their take on "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley can be found here.

"I Feel Love" by Curve

 

Donna Summer's 1977 Euro disco Hi-NRG song "I Feel Love" was covered by London, UK shoegaze electronica band Curve for a charity release in 1992.

With the original track widely regarded as the birth of electronic dance music, it would stand to reason that Curve's remake is the teenaged version, definitely a bit more mature, but likely rebellious and probably sneaking cigarettes behind the shed.    

"Girls and Boys" by Wang Chung

 

Soap operas are notorious for developing giggle-worthy story lines that range from outlandish to ridiculously outlandish.

Take long-running CBS daytime drama "Guiding Light," where a character named Reva Shayne was presumed dead for six years before it was discovered that she had amnesia and was living in an Amish commune.

God, that's asinine.

Anyway, here's London, UK dance pop band Wang Chung, who emerged from a seven-year hiatus (over twenty years between studio albums) to lay down their version of "Girls and Boys," the 1995 NME Award winning track from Britpop band Blur.

For a Blur cover, check out their version of Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" here.

"Save Your Tears" by VONALTUM

 

VONALTUM are two American sisters (at least, their YouTube channel is based out of the states.  I can't find any biographical information, so I'll just say that they're from Minot, North Dakota... which has a .0005% chance of being accurate.)

Here, they tackle Toronto, Canada artist The Weeknd's 2020 synthwave breakup song "Save Your Tears" in a stripped-down version that matches the forlorn lyrics.  

Even better, this was released at the height of quarantine lockdowns, so it's like a beautifully decorated melancholy cake with sorrowful frosting.

"In Too Deep" by Alex Melton

 

Chester, South Carolina audio engineer and musician Alex Melton adds some small town rural to "In Too Deep," originally a pop punk song from Ontario, Canada skate punks Sum 41. 

Bonus points to Sum 41 for the not-so-subtle nod to 1986 Rodney Dangerfield romantic comedy "Back to School" in their official music video. 

"Lightning Crashes" by Jenny and Tyler

 There was a series of advertisements for Heinz ketchup in the '80s with the tagline "The best things come to those who wait."

Jenny and Tyler, a contemporary Christian folk duo originally from Newark, Delaware (go, Blue Hens!) released a 2017 cover of York, Pennsylvania post-grunge band Live's 1994 single "Lightning Crashes."

The first couple minutes of their version aren't exactly excreta, but they're pretty meh.

Then, at the 2:07 mark, they start harmonizing.  And it's otherworldly.

Definitely worth holding out for.