Towards the Within | Dominion (cover) by Heartworms

While not aways the case, I do like myself a good cover song now and again, just to see how a band reinterprets a song and tries to own it. I’ve never seen much point in a band that tries to make something sound exactly like the original — I mean, what’s the point? And there are a few songs and bands that just don’t translate well into a new sound (Doors, Zeppelin, post-Barrett Pink Floyd). But, on the balance, it is fun to see how a band tries to reimagine a song and make it their own.

I’ve not made it any secret that I am a Sisters of Mercy fan (for the first two albums and early singles, anyway). And I’ve grown to really like the neo-gothic Heartworms after Chris Nelson introduced me to them at the beginning of summer. So, when I saw that JoJo and band performed a Sisters song in-studio, I definitely had to check it out.

While the sound of her backup band largely emulates the old Sisters of Mercy sound, I think they make enough changes to get rid of the maddeningly MIDI-sequenced sound of the original. But JoJo’s performance is what gives them new ownership of the song. She alternates between monotone (which is a good replacement for the baritone of Andrew Eldritch) and vocal experimentation.

Does it all technically hit the mark? No. But I am sick and tired of perfection and I like the rawness and lack of fear that prevents people from taking chances these days in music. Heartworms is a blend of styles with influences you can pick out: anything from Siouxsie to PJ Harvey, from Joy Division to club music. I know I say it too often, but 80s post-punk music was all about experimentation…. not to necessarily be different just to be different, but to investigate the possible. And it only worked about as often as it didn’t. But there was variety, dammit. And Heartworms, if anything, seem unafraid of trying to see what they can do (across the visual medium too, making several videos with stories being told — a lost art, if you ask me).

This cover captures some of the same energy for me as when Siouxsie and the Banshees took on a cover Helter Skelter (“You may be a lover/But you ain’t no fucking dancer”). Technically missing it on sections, but unforgettable for having captured the punk energy of the era. I wouldn’t want them to have done it differently. Because… they owned it (much how Siouxsie and gang owned the Beatle’s Dear Prudence less than a decade later).

This cover has that same feeling of ownership. Different enough to capture my attention, close enough to feel familiar.

And, while this is somewhat subdued compared to other evidence, I also really enjoy her stage presence and self-awareness that seem to be lacking in the post-90s shoegaze approach to performing that is commonplace in live performances these days. Yes, I get it, most folks just want to play music. But, goodness, look like you are enjoying yourself and maybe shake your butt to the music at least a little, even if you don’t want to move beyond your little box on the floor. She has fun with it and doesn’t care if you disapprove.

Shake it like you just don’t care. I can get behind that.