Is there anyone more influential on modern indie rock than Neil Young? Maybe there is, but it’s hard to argue he isn’t a central figure in shaping the current landscape. For one, there’s the way that plenty of modern alt-country/indie folk bands adhere to his style of veering between ragged-but-unhurried, noisy country rock and quiet, intimate acoustic folk, and there’s also an undeniable indirect influence if you consider how much Young and Crazy Horse influenced the guitar-hero side of 90s indie rock that informs much of the genre today (Martsch? Mascis? Malkmus? Ranaldo, Moore, and Gordon?).
I’m not exactly sure when I noticed that there were several different Neil Young cover compilations on Bandcamp, but at some point I got the idea to listen to all the ones that were on there. I discovered there were five such compilations, ranging from a 2008 one that was put on there retroactively to two that materialized over the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. This only includes the ones on Bandcamp, so I didn’t do the legendary 1989 The Bridge compilation, which included notable Young disciples The Flaming Lips, Pixies, and Dinosaur Jr., but there are plenty of notable names to be found here (notable to someone who likes the kind of music Rosy Overdrive covers normally, sure, but a few actual Names do pop up as well). What follows are my thoughts on all five of them, presented in the order in which I checked them out. I’ll try to touch on notable appearances, highlights, and interesting choices both in terms of song selection and adaptation. Without any further ado, let’s “walk on” before “time fades away”, because “tonight’s the night” to listen to 138 different Neil Young covers. You’d have to be a “crazy horse” not to enjoy this one. Oh, let’s just get to it.
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To Sample & Hold – A Benefit Tribute to the Songs of Neil Young (2021)
We begin with what appears to be the most recent Neil Young cover compilation on Bandcamp. I actually remember this one coming out, although I don’t believe I ever listened to it in full. This is one of the longer compilations, as it’s 27 songs long. According to the album artwork, it was organized by Albany’s Blue Ranger, the project of ex-Pinegrove guitarist Josh Marre, as a benefit for Free Food Fridge Albany (“an anonymous & direct food access point to food insecure neighborhoods, systemically oppressed and marginalized neighborhoods”). Reflecting of the kind of music that Marre makes and the larger makeup of Albany’s indie rock scene, To Sample & Hold is heavy on bedroom pop, lo-fi folk, alt-country, and soft-sounding singer-songwriter type music. It’s a lot to wade through, but there’s maybe more gems here than any of the other compilations.
There are plenty of recognizable faces on To Sample & Hold, including a couple of other Pinegrove-associated acts—Nick Levine’s Jodi contributes a gorgeous version of “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, and while Evan Stephens Hall’s “Long May You Run” isn’t as overly impressive, it’s a nice song selection from the former Pinegrove frontman. On the less “alt-country” and more “pop” side, Rosy Overdrive favorite Russel the Leaf (led by Josh Marre’s brother, Evan) offers up a beautiful synth-ballad take on “The Bridge”, and similar lo-fi Beach Boys devotee Thank You Thank You actually attempts to merge folk rock and lo-fi pop in a brisk, drum machine-heavy take on “Walk On”. Albany’s Another Michael (who fall somewhere between “studio pop” and “folk rock”) take on “Lotta Love”, sounding subdued but spirited enough to turn it into an “another Another Michael song”. Last but not least, Ben Seretan helms maybe the most rocking moment on To Sample & Hold, a fuzz-dance-pop-punk take on “Fuckin’ Up” that works shockingly well.
I’d put Ben Seretan, Jodi, and Russel the Leaf’s contributions near the top of To Sample & Hold’s highlights, but plenty of bands I’m not as familiar with have highlights on the album as well. In the “country rock” department, Coupons’ soaring take on “Borrowed Tune”, Zena Kay’s steady “Out on the Weekend”, and the gently rolling “Unknown Legend” provided by Will Brown all fall under “not reinventing the wheel, but really enjoyable takes on the songs nonetheless” territory. Eliza Niemi takes a Casio-shaped sledgehammer to “Mellow My Mind”, dialing up a prominent drum machine beat but, impressively, keeping the song’s delicate nature intact. Andrew Young Stevens actually ends up fleshing out the previously-skeletal sounding “Will to Love” into blooming (but still meandering) folk rock, while Whitney Ballen’s “Love in Mind” is all stark piano.
Let’s say we define “classic Neil Young” as everything up to and including Rust Never Sleeps, plus Freedom, Ragged Glory, and Harvest Moon. In that case, I must give credit to Blue Ranger themselves, as they’re the only ones to venture out of this familiar zone with their selection by taking on “Bandit” from 2003’s Greendale. If you hadn’t already heard “Bandit”, you’d be forgiven for thinking that their lo-fi, spoken word, almost ambient-folk take on the song is some kind of radical reinvention, but it’s actually a lot closer than you’d think (“Bandit” is my favorite song from Greendale and probably on the shortlist for favorite 21st century Young song). It’s not as good as the original version, but I do appreciate it showing up here. (Bandcamp link)
Look Out for My Love: A Neil Young Covers Album to Benefit RAICES (2020)
My first instinct was to call this one of the many pandemic-era covers compilations, but it actually predates lockdown by a couple of weeks. This one was put together by Shayla Riggs of the Richmond band Yeehaw Junction (between recent ones from WarHen and SPINSTER Records, the Virginias have continued to keep their various-artist-compilation game up as of late), and it’s to benefit RAICES (“a nonprofit that provides free and low-cost legal and social services for immigrants”). Compared to To Sample & Hold, it’s on average less quiet indie folk and more fuzzy country rock, although there’s some overlap in the two genre-wise. If you like the more electric side of Young and Crazy Horse, there’s plenty of highlights on this one for you (even as it’s only a “mere” eighteen songs compared to To Sample & Hold’s twenty-seven).
If you’re into modern bands that are doing the 90s indie rock thing, there’s a good chance you’ll recognize some of these acts, as I do—even though I was surprised to realize that I’ve only ever actually covered one of them on the blog before (note: we can up this to one and a half, because after I wrote this, I covered a new EP from Zowy, side project of Halfsour, who contributed a version of “Words (Between the Lines of Age)” to the compilation). Richmond’s Gnawing are a perfect fit for the ragged garage-y rock and roll side of Neil Young and Crazy Horse, so it’s kind of surprising that the band offer up a mostly-acoustic take of “Walk On” for Look Out for My Love. It’s got a lo-fi, almost demo-y quality to it that’s still pretty charming in its own right. I also recognize a few other bands here—orchestral grunge rockers Lung offer up a characteristically heavy and dramatic take on “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”, Adult Mom adds a simple but pleasant acoustic “Harvest Moon”, and Anna Mcclellan’s lo-fi piano pop version of “Out on the Weekend” is oddly transfixing. I’m also familiar with the pair of explosive rockers that close out the album—Exploding in Sound alumni Rick Rude bash out a six-minute, fiery “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”, and Sophomore Lounge scuzz-rockers Wren Kitz one-up them by crawling through a heavy, distorted, psychedelic eight-minute take on “Cortez the Killer”.
There are also more “deep cuts” on Look Out for My Love than To Sample & Hold—we can debate whether or not “Transformer Man” from 1983’s cult classic Trans counts as such, but it’s more obscure than most of the songs here, and I really love Spit Take’s power-poppy-garage-punk performance of it here. The other odd selections here don’t blow me away as much, but Bunny Boy’s new age-y take on “Philadelphia” is intriguing, and Pressed Orchid’s deconstructed version of “Are You Passionate?” might be the most interesting choice I’ve encountered yet. I’d definitely consider Lung’s contribution one of my favorites on the album, although for the most part it’s new-to-me faces who offer up my favorite tracks here.
Aside from the previously-mentioned Spit Take, Adult Magic’s garage rock/fuzzy power pop version of “Don’t Cry No Tears” is another great moment on Look Out for My Love that’s in a similar vein. Yeehaw Junction themselves actually offer up another of my favorites, a lo-fi pop take on “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” that works a lot better than most of the other attempts to do this I’ve heard on these compilations. Winter Jogger, Donna Geese, Zoe Stone, & Cali Serino bring some wonderful, personable harmonies to their otherwise barebones acoustic version of “Love Is a Rose”, and, last but not least, I do need to commend Julie Karr for finding new life in a song whose original version I’ve heard so many times I have no need of ever hearing again (“Rockin’ in the Free World”). (Bandcamp link)
Headed for the Ditch – A Michigan Tribute to Neil Young (2012)
The previous two compilations have done a very good job of illustrating just how pervasive Neil Young’s influence is in present-day “indie rock”. Both the electric, sprawling country-infused rock music of the Crazy Horse albums and the intimate, polished but personal-feeling folk music of his solo ones are well-represented in the current landscape. In 2012 this was not so much the case—indie music was in its woozy synth-y, lightly R&B-flecked phase, more modern pop-curious than in the past, and the underground was more straight-up punk and the burgeoning emo revival. This is the backdrop for Headed for the Ditch, a perhaps appropriately-named album-length compilation of Michigan indie rock bands covering Neil Young. Headed for the Ditch was actually put out on vinyl by Lower Peninsula Records (a seemingly-inactive Lansing label most notable for putting out a couple of records from Frontier Ruckus, Matthew Milia’s band), but only a digital copy is available here on Bandcamp.
There’s only one band I recognize on here, but it’s a good one. Saturday Looks Good to Me—the longtime band led by Fred Thomas, currently of Idle Ray—does a weary, twitchy “See the Sky About to Rain”, layering guitars and synths over top of Thomas’ subtle but more-than-sufficient vocals. Headed for the Ditch as a whole vacillates between kinda loose, punk-y indie rock and acoustic folk, putting it in similar territory as Look Out for My Love, although the “rockers” here are on average less heavy fuzz-rock and more casual pop-punk-adjacent material. Not that the album doesn’t get loud—in particular, The Casionauts’ dire, screeching “Southern Man” and The Hard Lessons’ chaotic closing version of “Hey Hey, My My” are some fine examples of Michigan garage rock, while New Granada’s version of “Barstool Blues” reminds me of another artist who’s covered Neil Young, Jeff Rosenstock, but with more distortion. The overall relaxed nature of the album is a boon when it comes to The Drinking Problem’s absolutely wild, free-wheeling country rock take on “Saddle Up the Palomino”, a song I never thought too much about, and to a lesser degree, the imminently enjoyable acoustic folk rock of Dave Lawson’s “Lookin’ for a Love” that opens the compilation.
The two weirdest selections on Headed for the Ditch are polar opposites—on the one hand, we’ve got The Rick Johnson Rock and Roll Machine charging through a synthpunk/dance-punk take on “We R in Control” (Neil Young—egg punk icon?), and on the other hand, Ian Saylor offers up a version of “Soldier” (a song that originally appeared on Journey Through the Past) that’s all incredibly stripped down, skeletal acoustic folk. This is maybe the most consistent of these compilations—I’m not sure what the best track is on here, but The Drinking Problem, The Casionauts, Dave Lawson, Saturday Looks Good to Me, and Edward (who does a nice version of “Birds” that takes off into soaring alt-rock) all come to mind. (Bandcamp link)
Cinnamon Girl – Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity (2008)
This was initially released as a double vinyl album by American Laundromat Records in 2008, and it’s pretty easily the compilation with the most notable names to appear on it. American Laundromat does a lot of these cover compilations—I remember their Elliott Smith one featuring J. Mascis, Julien Baker, and Waxahatchee from a few years ago, and they’ve also done The Smiths, Pixies, and The Cure, among others—but they’ve also released full albums from Tanya Donnelly and Juliana Hatfield. Donnelly appears on Cinnamon Girl, along with other indie/alt/folk rockers like Britta Phillips (of Luna), Veruca Salt, Kristin Hersh, Elk City, Lori McKenna, and Jill Sobule. That list should give you an idea of the kind of music to be found on here—less garage-y/punk-y than Headed for the Ditch or Look Out for My Love, less lo-fi than To Sample & Hold, we’re in the realm of refined, polished singer-songwriter-y folk rock and “adult alternative”. Also, as the title implies, everything on this album is either by a female solo artist or a band led by a woman. The charity for this one is Casting for Recovery (“whose mission is to enhance the quality of life of women with breast cancer through a unique retreat program that combines breast cancer education and peer support with the therapeutic sport of fly fishing”). I feel like Neil Young would approve of that.
The established names mostly offer up quality recordings, although some work better than others. Veruca Salt rip through “Burned”, probably the best “rocker” on Cinnamon Girl, while Jill Sobule (with an assist from X’s John Doe) takes “Down by the River” and deconstructs it into a borderline freak folk masterpiece. Tanya Donnelly and Elk City offer up pretty versions of “Heart of Gold” and “Helpless”, respectively, but both of those songs I’ve heard so many times and I don’t think either really added anything to the songs (okay, okay, the version of “Helpless” is pretty enjoyable nonetheless). Kristin Hersh’s “Like a Hurricane” is maybe not the most essential, but listening to it really elucidates just how much she and her bands have been inspired by Young’s music over the years. Phillips’ “I Am a Child” and Louise Post’s “Sugar Mountain” are both forgettable. This is the first compilation to feature multiple versions of the same song—Dala and Darcie Miner both do “Ohio” for some reason, the latter as a rocker and the former as a piano ballad.
Dala has more success taking on “A Man Needs a Maid” elsewhere on the album, the eerie folk-rock-drama gaining another layer sung through her voice. Some of my favorite songs on Cinnamon Girl are the rockers—the previously-mentioned “Burned”, plus Heidi Gluck’s big, friendly power pop take on “Walk On” which closes the album and Euro-Trash Girl’s ripping version of “Cinnamon Girl”. Julie Peel’s cover of “I Believe in You” isn’t as much of a straight up rocker, but it balances delicateness and electricity quite nicely, and in terms of the quieter tracks, Kate York puts together a gently rolling version of “Comes a Time” that shines a light on a song that maybe should be ranked higher among Young’s folk songs (it should be noted that at this point I’m almost certainly getting fatigue in hearing the most frequently-covered songs, including “Tell Me Why”, “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, and “Powderfinger”). (Bandcamp link)
PRF Monthly Tribute Series – May 2016: Neil Young (2016)
Alright, we’re closing this out with a pure free-for-all. The PRF Monthly Tribute Series arose out of the forums for Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio Recording Studio and the idea is fairly straightforward: each month, as many people from the forum as want to record a song from a previously-chosen artist, and the results are compiled on Bandcamp to listen to (the forum members then vote on the best cover, the creator of which gets to choose the next month’s artist as a reward). The Monthly Tribute Series archives on Bandcamp stretch all the way back to 2014, and it’s still going strong today (for January 2024, it’s Todd Rundgren). In 2016, they did Neil Young, and the artists of the PRF really showed out for this one—at sixty-one songs, this is easily the longest Neil Young cover compilation on Bandcamp, featuring a couple of names I recognize and a few more (“Uncle Shakey and the Honey Slides”, “The Ragged Glory Holes”, “Crazier Horse”) that were monikers presumably created solely for this project.
If all you’ve got to go on is the Albini association, you’d be forgiven for anticipating a bunch of Jesus Lizard-worshipping noise rock bands throughout this compilation, but it’s a pleasingly diverse array—just among the first three songs, we get “Kneel Young” and his deconstructed post-rock take on “Harvest Moon”, Absolutely Nothing’s straight-up acoustic folk “Birds”, and a garage-punk-pop “After the Goldrush” from Neutron-X. Interestingly enough, I do actually recognize a couple of these bands, and they offer up a few highlights. If you enjoy the heavy-but-catchy punk of bands like Militarie Gun and Drug Church, you might enjoy long-running Pacific Northwest group The Bismarck’s take on “Don’t Cry No Tears”, which ups the noise but also hones in on the pop song at the core of the track. Chicago noise rockers Nonagon contribute a fidgety, fiery post-punk take on “Revolution Blues”, and Light Coma choose to lock into a groove on “Dirty Dirty”, a song that’s just by Crazy Horse (I find this an incredibly enjoyable pick, because just a year later Light Coma would be the Crazy Horse to Silkworm guitarist Andrew Cohen by backing him on his solo album, Unreality).
Light Coma going for a Crazy Horse track is just one of the many, ah, “creative” choices to be found on this compilation. I guess for regular contributors to these compilations, just doing a “straight” cover each time gets a bit stale. Some of these work very well–The Bismarck incorporate a bit of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Head On” into their cover, Black Sabbatical turns “The Needle and the Damage Done” into a Black Flag song in a way that makes a shocking amount of sense, and to a lesser degree, Joe Sepi’s Bill Callahan-esque “Mr. Soul” and Luff’s fuzz rock “Tell Me Why” are also nice reinventions. I don’t even remember how “Pressure” from Landing on Water originally sounded, but I’d imagine that Ossifer’s chugging alt-rock version of it (complete with a freaky, disconnected chorus) is pretty different.
Just as many highlights don’t reinvent the wheel so much–The Five Mod Four faithfully trudging through ten minutes of “Over and Over”, Dave N. crawling through “On the Beach”, the (sigh) Ragged Glory Holes’ version of “Country Home”, The Dank Brothers’ “Kinda Sorta Like a Hurricane”–just good stuff. I’d also count “just like the original, but more Albini-y” tracks in this category: Crazier Horse’s “White Lines”, Blank Banker’s lumbering “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”, four o’clocker 2’s absolutely awesome version of “Heavy Love”, and the Nonagon song all qualify. Actually, my favorite thing on this whole damn compilation might be “Side 2 of Time Fades Away” by Gwen Glass and Her Boy Gang. Glass and the boys do, indeed, rip through “Don’t Be Denied”, float through “The Bridge”, and then burn everything down with “Last Dance” over the course of eighteen minutes. Is there also some stuff on this compilation that’s not very good? Sure. But if you like Neil Young it’s more than worth spinning it for moments like this. (Bandcamp link)
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