Welcome to the fifth series of A.V. Undercover, which doesn’t include the little detours we’ve taken into holiday and summer songs. We’re happy to be back, complete with a gussied-up studio and a new list of songs for bands to cover. (Once a song has been covered, it gets crossed off the list, so the later a band comes to our office, the fewer songs they’ll have to choose from. You know the drill.) The 2014 song list can be found right here. First up to bat are Undercover superstars Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner, better known as Wye Oak. It’s been an unofficial rule since we started Undercover that we wouldn’t have bands visit more than once, but because every performance has been so excellent, this is Wye Oak’s fourth Undercover appearance. (They’ve previously covered The Kinks, Danzig, and Brenda Lee.) It might even be their best, as they tackle Kate Bush’s powerhouse 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill.” It’s different, but the same—just like you and me.
Beyonce, “Crazy In Love”
TV On The Radio, “Wolf Like Me”
Pulp, “Babies”
Green Day, “When I Come Around”
Elvis Costello, “Alison”
Yes, “Owner Of A Lonely Heart”
Rush, “Limelight”
Buzzcocks, “Ever Fallen In Love”
Mountain Goats, “The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton”
Vampire Weekend, “A-Punk”
.38 Special, “Hold On Loosely”
Echo & The Bunnymen, “The Killing Moon”
Stone Roses, “I Wanna Be Adored”
PJ Harvey, “O Stella”
Wang Chung, “Dance Hall Days”
Wheatus, “Teenage Dirtbag”
Arrested Development, “Tennessee” Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill” - Wye Oak
The Jam, “A Town Called Malice”
Squeeze, “Tempted”
Big Country, “In A Big Country”
Cranberries, “Linger”
Devo, “Gates Of Steel”
Go-Go’s, “We Got The Beat”
Asia, “Heat Of The Moment”
Pet Shop Boys, “West End Girls”
Stone Temple Pilots, “Plush”
T’Pau, “Heart & Soul”
Breeders, “Cannonball”
John Cougar, “I Need A Lover”
Heart, “Barracuda”
Billy Ocean, “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car”
Backstreet Boys, “I Want It That Way”
Blackstreet, “No Diggity”
Paul Simon, “Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard”
Billy Joel, “We Didn’t Start The Fire”
Talking Heads, “Psycho Killer”
Faces, “Ooh La La”
Cheap Trick, “Surrender”
The Supremes, “Come See About Me”
Tom Jones, “What’s New Pussycat?”
U2, “New Year’s Day”
Third Eye Blind, “Semi-Charmed Life”
Rollins Band, “Low Self Opinion”
New Radicals, “You Get What You Give”
Frank Ocean, “Thinkin Bout You”
INXS, “Need You Tonight”
Nine Inch Nails, “Down In It”
Sleater-Kinney, “You’re No Rock N’ Roll Fun”
Dinosaur Jr., “Not You Again”
Weezer, “Undone—The Sweater Song”
Modest Mouse, “Third Planet”
Eddie Money, “Shakin”
Robyn, “Dancing On My Own”
Radiohead, “Just”
Neil Young, “Heart Of Gold”
Violent Femmes, “Kiss Off”
Gin Blossoms, “Hey Jealousy”
The Flaming Lips, “Do You Realize??”
The Cars, “Just What I Needed”
New Order, “Bizarre Love Triangle”
Michael Jackson, “PYT”
Fleetwood Mac, “Go Your Own Way”
Steely Dan, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”
Kenny Loggins, “Danger Zone”
The Decemberists, “Los Angeles, I’m Yours”
Kansas, “Carry On Wayward Son”
Suicidal Tendencies, “Institutionalized”
David Bowie, “Modern Love”
Harvey Danger, “Flagpole Sitta”
Sufjan Stevens, “Chicago”
Andrew WK, “Party Hard”
Pretenders, “Back On The Chain Gang”
Lana Del Rey, “Blue Jeans”
Arcade Fire, “Rebellion (Lies)”
Shellac, “Prayer To God”
R. Kelly, “Ignition”
Van Halen, “Panama”
The Police, “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
Adele, “Rumor Has It”
Belle & Sebastian, “Like Dylan In The Movies”
Big Star, “September Gurls”
Blur, “Girls And Boys”
Chumbawamba, “Tubthumping”
The Clash, “Janie Jones”
Danzig, “Mother”
Fine Young Cannibals, “She Drives Me Crazy”
Gary Numan, “Cars”
Huey Lewis & The News, “The Power Of Love”
The Human League, “Don’t You Want Me”
Jawbreaker, “Boxcar”
Kanye West, “Runaway”
Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton, “Islands In The Stream”
LCD Soundsystem, “All My Friends”
Loretta Lynn, “The Other Woman”
Otis Redding, “Try A Little Tenderness”
Pixies, “Gigantic”
Prince, “Little Red Corvette”
Sugar, “If I Can’t Change Your Mind”
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, “Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?”
They Might Be Giants, “Birdhouse In Your Soul”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “American Girl”
Toto, “Africa”
The White Stripes, “Fell In Love With A Girl”
Wilco, “Shot In The Arm”
Thanks for all the above. These are amazing. The musicianship is strong and pure in these ones. Stuff like this wants to make me try singing while playing bass or drumming while playing keyboards despite being terrible at all the above even when played alone.
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