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Thursday night was pub night back in university. It’s why I tried (and was mostly* successful) to avoid Friday morning classes throughout my five years attending York University in Toronto. At some point in the fall of 1995, I switched pub night allegiances from my local college pub**, The Open End, to the main campus pub, The Underground, because it was bigger and the music they played was more to my tastes. DJ Stephen Rigby span a mix of danceable alternative rock and pop from the 70s right up to what was current, running the gamut of ska, punk, goth, shoegaze, industrial, britpop, and everything in-between. I rarely missed a week.
And being a regular, I got to know the other regulars, learned their musical tastes, and what songs would draw them up to the dance floor every time. Some of these I would meet and become friends with over the couple years I frequented The Underground pub. Some of these would become nodding acquaintances, either at the pub or if seen on campus somewhere outside of the pub***. And others still were never properly met but were recognized, given nicknames, and perhaps they even recognized me. An example of the last of these is a trio of young ladies that me and my friends affectionately referred to as ‘the flapper girls’, not because of their retro style of dress****, but for the way they danced. Their tastes ran light and airy and cheery, from folk to dream pop to what I would later learn was Twee, and the song of the day***** was one of those that would draw them out to the middle of the dance floor with their flower wreaths tucked into their braids, their long flowery dresses twirling about them, and their arms fluttering like wings.
Frente’s cover of New Order’s “Bizarre love triangle” is the first track I remember ever hearing by the Australian indie pop group. Released as a b-side to single “Labour of love” in 1994 here in North America, it garnered regular airplay on Toronto’s CFNY (which is where I heard them) and made a name for them here and elsewhere on this continent. I later recorded a copy of their debut album “Marvin” off my friend John. Apparently, they released a second album in 1996 before splitting two years later but I never heard it.
Their cover of “Bizarre love triangle” is great because it is uniquely theirs, taking the original material and converting a new wave, completely electronic, robotic dance anthem to an acoustic folk, organic ray of sunshine. Don’t get me wrong. New Order’s original is a classic and truly untouchable for its originality and ability to get anyone out on the dance floor. Frente stripped the song down to its esentials, keeping it at a mere two minutes, Angie Hart’s soft vocals against fingers plucking on acoustic strings. It’s the type of sound my friend Tim would have called ‘too happy’ but for anyone else, was instantaneously smile invoking.
The cover here can’t possibly be called better than the original. However, it’s just so different and different is also great.
Cover:
Original:
*I say ‘mostly’ because in my final year, one of my required credit courses was a twice a week, where the second class fell at 8:30 on Friday mornings and I only rarely made it to that second class of the week.
**Back in that golden age, every university college had its own pub but I’ve heard that, one by one, they’ve closed over the years, leaving only the main campus pub.
***Kind of like a secret club.
****Though their style was unique as well.
*****Along with another cover by Frente: their rendition of the Flinstones’ “Open up your heart (and let the sunshine in)” from the “Saturday morning” compilation.
For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.
My (life in) music lists 