What happens when the catchy, melancholic disco of Italians Do It Better act Pink Gloves meets the kinetic, lo-fi pop sensibilities of storied noise rock band Dinosaur Jr.? You get a fascinating cover of “Little Fury Things” from the latter’s 1987 SST album You’re Living All Over Me.
The Prague-based IDIB group — no strangers to Vehlinggoland’s regulars — take the energetic and raw rock number and turn it into a tight, punchy, and upbeat groover, with singer Petr Pliska’s pipes smoothly hovering over the instrumentation with just enough adhesive to keep it all glued together. As they did with their excellent cover of Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” on 2019’s Los Angeles EP, Pink Gloves deftly make this song their own without losing the core elements that drew people to the original. For example, Pliska’s delivery is still devil-may-care, but he navigates the immediacy of J Mascis’ vocal melody with ease.
Sometimes (and perhaps often) when an electronic act covers a rock song, the result is a shiny little dose of gimmickry. Not so with “Little Fury Things,” and not so with IDIB covers in general. One can hope that at some point the label will release a compilation of all of their artists’ covers. That would be a great release, indeed.
Until then, stop what you’re doing and get on this song. In fact, go down the Pink Gloves rabbit hole in general. You’ll have a great time.
Don’t miss the fantastic Vehlinggo Mix 25, compiled by Pink Gloves and featuring a still-unreleased song from them.
