“Find Another Girl” – The Hives (2000)
Original – Jerry Butler (1961)
Jerry Butler scored a Top 10 R&B hit with “Find Another Girl,” a gorgeous heartbreak/redemption song he co-wrote with Curtis Mayfield. Swedish garage punk band The Hives scuffed up the pretty soul original while keeping the beautiful melody intact. The result is a fascinating hybrid of distorted rhythms simultaneously undermining and bolstering Pelle Almqvist’s increasingly tortured vocals. It becomes surprisingly hypnotic.
“Eddie’s Teddy” – Swingin’ Utters (2000, 2003)
Original – The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1973)
Stay with me as this is a little confusing. British actor Richard O’Brien wrote The Rocky Horror Show in 1973 and it was turned into the definitive cult film two years later. The original stage show featured a song called “Eddie’s Teddy,” about a punk kid who comes to an unhappy end. That song was rechristened as “Eddie” in the movie. It’s a cool blend of gothic-style dirge and up-tempo ’60s doo-wop rock. Sounds ripe for a cover, no?
Then, in 2003, the Migraines frontman Shawn Browning put together a punk rock tribute album called The Rocky Horror Punk Rock Show. He enlisted several well-known bands to contribute, including Alkaline Trio, and two others who will soon be showing up on this list. Santa Cruz’s Swingin’ Utters had released a self-titled album in 2000 with their own version of “Eddie’s Teddy,” and I have no idea whether this was an independent happenstance, or whether it was recorded with any input from Browning. It was later included on Browning’s tribute album in 2003. With that out of the way, Swingin’ Utters blow the song out of the park. From Johnny Peebucks martinet intro to the kickass groove that drives the song, this subs Pogues-style swagger in for the original doo-wop, and it works perfectly.