Already Wrote the End
The cover song and the indie artist
Sinéad O’Connor became globally famous after her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” hit everywhere in 1990. For some of us, Sinéad’s superstardom was inevitable based on her almost otherworldly talent, especially as displayed on her first album, 1987’s The Lion and The Cobra. Hearing “Jackie” and “Troy,” we knew she could be a huge star, and then she was.
A couple years later, Sinéad covered Nirvana’s “All Apologies,” which wasn’t even released as a single. At that point, her career position allowed her to cover traditional Irish songs, sing songs written by Bono and others, or write what she wanted. While she’d never reach the chart peaks of 1990, her own artistry was always paramount and her career would continue on her own terms until her death in 2023.
Should an indie artist cover a song to gain traction with listeners? I see this question frequently in indie music discussions. Cover songs are part of the fun of music — so many possibilities exist that both artists and listeners respond to covers. Interpretations, arrangements, sing-alongs, whatever. Should a new artist borrow some familiarity from an existing song and gamble that this will help them find an audience willing to dig more deeply into their catalogue? Sinéad is just one of many who have found success with this route.
But here we are in 2024, with virtually every song ever recorded instantly available to hear. Immediacy rules over depth, and the pressure of recording and releasing singles over and over has become the purported model of success for the indie musician. Like Niagara Falls, an endless cascade of 3-minute bangers can build a name. Or, like many small, unnamed waterfalls, the lack of output might dry up a career and put an end to the indie artist dream.
With stakes so high, what should an artist do?
In the aftermath,
What comes after that?
— Honeycrush “Belly Empty”
A little over a year ago, I heard a song by indie artist Honeycrush on TikTok. I don’t know the exact hows and whys of the algorithm serving “Belly Empty” to my phone, but once I heard the vocals, I immediately listened to the whole video a couple times and added the song to my Apple Music playlist. The opening line I don’t hate you… with a minimalist guitar accompaniment hooked me right away. As the lines slither for about a minute, a story takes hold — the singer is addressing a lover, or potential lover, or past lover. All at once, perhaps, the narrative ramps up and twists, and as drums kick in to drive this twist, the song continues its upward spiral until culminating with the speaker’s final justification Cause you don’t know me like I do…
Like the first time I heard Sinéad singing on The Edge’s soundtrack single “Heroine,” Honeycrush’s voice took up residence in my brain. Without any superstar clout behind her, Honeycrush earned a fan with a single song, an original. But looking at her other videos, I saw she covered lots of artists in them, playing solo, and I was able to understand more about her musical ability and perspective. We like a lot of the same moody alternative rock and so I started paying a lot more attention to her music. I started to pay a lot more attention to Honeycrush the musical artist as a whole.
Today, Honeycrush formally released a cover to her digital distribution channels, a version of the Nirvana b-side “Magnolia”. I will admit that I am not a Nirvana completist, but have been a fan since I heard the premiere of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on CFNY 102.1 FM (Toronto) back in 1991. More recently, because of my Mark Lanegan fandom, I’ve been digging into Kurt Cobain’s fuller body of work, including singles and demos that have been released on retrospective collections. So, “Magnolia” comes to me without a lot of baggage, and yet is unmistakably Nirvana.
Honeycrush has collaborated on this single with photographer and musician Dimitry Mak. The sonic palatte of this collaboration captures the impromptu nature of Nirvana’s version while subtly transforming the song to showcase Honeycrush’s understated vocals. The instrumentation of the cover is more smooth, the production deft enough to propel the song while not abandoning Nirvana’s “captured completely live in one mic” feel. I won’t spoil the moment, but Honeycrush and Mak absolutely capture this vibe with a nod to the original.
While Honeycrush, with the able assistance of Mak, resituates Seattle to Brooklyn, at the other end of New York State, the Buffalo-based Stress Dolls are poised to be a major force in the alternative rock landscape. Led by vocalist Chelsea O’Donnell, Stress Dolls occupy a familiar and comfortable niche in the Buffalo music scene that has had huge successes like Goo Goo Dolls, Ani DiFranco, and 10,000 Maniacs all grow from 1980s obscurity to fame over the ensuing decades.
“Ghostwriter” was the first Stress Dolls song of I heard back in October 2023, and over the course of the past six months the quality of their singles has remained stellar. Both “Alone” and “Close Enough” were added to Apple Music’s New in Alternative playlist, a promising sign of national interest. Drawing on the rock side of the spectrum, O’Donnell’s songwriting showcases her powerful vocals within a nicely produced guitar-based sound.
What intrigues me about Stress Dolls is how much they draw upon their Buffalo musical heritage. The 1990–93 era for Goo Goo Dolls was a time of transformation from a hardcore sound to one more influenced by the power pop of The Replacements. In the same era, 10,000 Maniacs reached the height of their popularity, culminating in the 1993 Mtv Unplugged album. Ani DiFranco released her first album on her own Righteous Babe Records in 1990 and has been the model of indie success since. But don’t get me wrong, Stress Dolls may nod to the past, but are creating vital rock music today.
All of this combines today in the release of the Stress Dolls cover single of the Patti Smith/Bruce Springsteen song “Because the Night”. With O’Donnell’s vocals and guitar playing broadly reminiscent of Replacements-influenced power pop Goo Goo Dolls, and with 10,000 Maniacs having covered the song on their Unplugged album, Stress Dolls deftly connects Buffalo 2024 to Buffalo 1990 in a way that should make Josh Allen jealous.
Where Smith’s “Because the Night” begins with a quiet piano line, Stress Dolls step this up to a single guitar line before the whole band kicks in. O’Donnell’s voice immediately engages the listener as she propels the song through the story of a passionate love affair. As in their original songs, the whole is greater than the disparate parts. Listening to Stress Dolls doesn’t require a microscopic examination of fussy instumentaion, but each song bears repeated listening.
As I progress through Patti Smith and 10,000 Maniacs, I can see how O’Donnell draws from each without compromising the essential Stress Dolls sound. This is sometimes hard to do — we’ve all heard bands strain to emulate their heroes on covers to the detriment of the overall sound. I don’t know if “Because the Night” is slated to be included in the upcoming Stress Dolls full-length release (slated for May 17), but it does complement the original singles released so far.
I have always loved cover versions, especially live within the context of a whole show. Can they open the door to a listener for a new artist? If Honeycrush and Stress Dolls are the artists, then yes. Go listen to “Marigold” and “Because the Night” and stay for “Belly Empty,” “Ghostwriter” and the rest of their catalogues.
