Early in 2004, Matinée Records released a tribute compilation to the Smiths. Bands hosted by the California label tackled twelve Smiths songs and put their own versions to tape. If you wanted to be unfair, you could say it was an attempt by Matinée to make a splash by riding the coattails of Morrissey and company, but a funny thing happened—people really liked the album.
I haven’t heard the album myself, as I’m poorly equipped to appreciate even a second-hand rendition of the Smiths’ oeuvre; the number of Smiths songs I know well I can count on my hands. So I can’t really tell you if Australia’s Lucksmiths are committing some horrendous travesty with their cover of “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.” There is a sort of precedent, with the band having released another song the previous year called “There Is A Boy That Never Goes Out,” so at least the band’s up on their Smiths references.
For the cover, the band brought along singer Karen Morcombe and made the song a duet. The result is affecting, with all the angst and passion of two teenagers playing out their own Romeo and Juliet story. I don’t know if the people who grew up to love this song and take it to heart felt the same energy, but it definitely seems as though the Lucksmiths got this cover just right.
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[...] There are several schools of thought on how to do a cover properly. Terms like “faithful” and “accurate” characterize one school, the reverent redux: you are merely the performer channeling the greatness of the original artist, and your rendition must add tastefully to the body of work while remaining true to the original intent. I cannot, however, actually think of very many covers that fall into this category intentionally—probably because it’s a boring way to do a cover. If there are covers that do stick closely to the original template, it’s often seen more as a sign of weak thinking or lack of creativity. The outliers—covers that actually pull off the feat of remaining very similar to the original, and yet adding something new—are pleasures in their own right. The Lucksmiths did a cover of the Smiths’ “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” that I think is very faithful, and yet improved through the slight reinterpretation and the addition of a second, female vocalist. [...]
angels twenty » Cardigans - The Boys Are Back In Town, May 8th, 2006 at 7:58 pm