“Little Bit o’ Soul” – The Linda Lindas (2023)
Original – The Music Explosion (1967)
I’ve never heard the Little Darlings original recording of the ’60s garage hit “Little Bit o’ Soul.” Most of the world knows the first cover by Ohio band The Music Explosion – their only notable hit. It’s a fun, messy, lo-fi garage number with a little bit of funk.
Then last year, the best new rock group in the land – The Linda Lindas – cranked out a version for an Amazon movie. I haven’t seen the movie; don’t really care to. But I’ve listened to the high-energy Lindas blast through it a couple dozen times by now.
Bass player Eloise Wong and guitarist Lucia de la Garza trade vocals, and I kind of wish Wong had handled them all because her rough growl is so affecting. De la Garza smooths out the sound a bit, and maybe that make the whole thing come off a little better.
The quartet, who range in age from 13 to 19, will be opening for Green Day on their Saviors Tour this Summer, along with Rancid and Smashing Pumpkins. So I suppose there’s a chance they do know what they’re doing. (By the way, just to close the circle, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes once recorded the Japanese pop song “Linda Linda,” which the Lindas added as a bonus track on their 2023 debut album, Growing Up.)