Neon Bible
General
| Oct 2019
Reviews
DJ Stace
Reviewed 2019-10-12
Reviewed 2019-10-12
Album / Artist: Neon Bible / A Giant Dog
Label: Merge Records
Reviewed: 10/12/2019
DJ Stace
General Comments / Release Notes
Song-for-song, Pop-Punk cover of Arcade Fire’s 2007 “Neon Bible” by Austin, TX based A Giant Dog. Mostly female vocals. Some interesting versions. Novelty, like MF&tGG, but some good stuff.
From Pitchfork:
“As part of Merge’s sold-out “Born Under a Good Sign” vinyl subscription series”…A Giant Dog were allowed to choose any album to cover and debated multiple ideas, including Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack and Prince’s Purple Rain. They ultimately decided to cover Neon Bible. “The themes in the album, of outrage at U.S. leadership in the early 2000s, and a need to escape our social climate, sadly, remain pertinent today,” Ellis said.“
FCCs: None
RIYL: Arcade Fire, if The Coathangers were Me First & the Gimme Gimmes
Play: You know the album. Play your favourites.
Rated with *****
Tracks:
1. **** “Black Mirror” 4:13 - Straightforward, fast and punk. A bit more urgent and serrated than the original.
2. ***** “Keep the Car Running” 3:29 - Garage punk, in the vein of Crypt-era JSBX. Fast and simple. One of my favs.
3. **** “Neon Bible” 2:16 - Buzzy and effecty, with a little Krautrock.
4. **** “Intervention” 4:19 - Starts with funeral organ and heartbeat rhythm, shifts to anthemic punk pop reverbed snare-fest. Ends with Twee-Surf-Punk 80’s vibe. Could be mistaken for a Meatloaf production.
5. *** “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” 3:56 - Growling and reminiscent of Pat Benatar.
6. **** “Ocean of Noise” 4:53 - Midtempo Acoustic, strummy, folk-punk-pop, with organ and vocal harmony. Interesting.
7. **** “The Well and the Lighthouse” 3:57 - Another straightforward, uptempo, Weezeresque, power-pop anthem.
8. **** “(Antichrist Television Blues)” 5:10 - Fast, crisp, urgent, punk. On the verge of screaming. Reminds me a bit of Jim Carroll Band in the delivery.
9. ** “Windowsill” 4:16 - Mid-Tempo and total 80’s throwback sound. Fuzzed guitars, piano & some flourishes of strings. Strange, but cool.
10. ***** “No Cars Go” 5:43 - Epic, crashing, powerchord, Weezeresque intro transitions to a fast, fuzzy version with cool vocal harmonies. Great yelling in the buildup to outro. Another favourite.
11. **** “My Body is a Cage” 4:47 - Boxed-up vocals and muffled Tom Waits-style beat starts out. Adds operatic backing vocals, and eventually crashes into a Wagnerian crescendo of Kate Bush vocals. A bit more uptempo than the original.
Label: Merge Records
Reviewed: 10/12/2019
DJ Stace
General Comments / Release Notes
Song-for-song, Pop-Punk cover of Arcade Fire’s 2007 “Neon Bible” by Austin, TX based A Giant Dog. Mostly female vocals. Some interesting versions. Novelty, like MF&tGG, but some good stuff.
From Pitchfork:
“As part of Merge’s sold-out “Born Under a Good Sign” vinyl subscription series”…A Giant Dog were allowed to choose any album to cover and debated multiple ideas, including Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack and Prince’s Purple Rain. They ultimately decided to cover Neon Bible. “The themes in the album, of outrage at U.S. leadership in the early 2000s, and a need to escape our social climate, sadly, remain pertinent today,” Ellis said.“
FCCs: None
RIYL: Arcade Fire, if The Coathangers were Me First & the Gimme Gimmes
Play: You know the album. Play your favourites.
Rated with *****
Tracks:
1. **** “Black Mirror” 4:13 - Straightforward, fast and punk. A bit more urgent and serrated than the original.
2. ***** “Keep the Car Running” 3:29 - Garage punk, in the vein of Crypt-era JSBX. Fast and simple. One of my favs.
3. **** “Neon Bible” 2:16 - Buzzy and effecty, with a little Krautrock.
4. **** “Intervention” 4:19 - Starts with funeral organ and heartbeat rhythm, shifts to anthemic punk pop reverbed snare-fest. Ends with Twee-Surf-Punk 80’s vibe. Could be mistaken for a Meatloaf production.
5. *** “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” 3:56 - Growling and reminiscent of Pat Benatar.
6. **** “Ocean of Noise” 4:53 - Midtempo Acoustic, strummy, folk-punk-pop, with organ and vocal harmony. Interesting.
7. **** “The Well and the Lighthouse” 3:57 - Another straightforward, uptempo, Weezeresque, power-pop anthem.
8. **** “(Antichrist Television Blues)” 5:10 - Fast, crisp, urgent, punk. On the verge of screaming. Reminds me a bit of Jim Carroll Band in the delivery.
9. ** “Windowsill” 4:16 - Mid-Tempo and total 80’s throwback sound. Fuzzed guitars, piano & some flourishes of strings. Strange, but cool.
10. ***** “No Cars Go” 5:43 - Epic, crashing, powerchord, Weezeresque intro transitions to a fast, fuzzy version with cool vocal harmonies. Great yelling in the buildup to outro. Another favourite.
11. **** “My Body is a Cage” 4:47 - Boxed-up vocals and muffled Tom Waits-style beat starts out. Adds operatic backing vocals, and eventually crashes into a Wagnerian crescendo of Kate Bush vocals. A bit more uptempo than the original.
Recent airplay
My Body Is A Cage
Keep The Car Running
I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants — Jan 09, 2020
No Cars Go
THe Library — Jan 08, 2020
No Cars Go
I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants — Dec 26, 2019
My Body Is A Cage
I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants — Dec 19, 2019
Ocean Of Noise
I Like to Dance: Shake Off Your Pants — Dec 12, 2019
Charting
2019-10-23 — 2019-12-25
| Week Ending | Airplays |
|---|---|
| Dec 22 | 1 |
| Dec 15 | 2 |
| Dec 8 | 3 |
| Dec 1 | 1 |
| Nov 24 | 2 |
| Nov 17 | 1 |
| Nov 10 | 2 |
| Nov 3 | 2 |
Track listing
| 1. | Black Mirror | ||
| 2. | Keep The Car Running | ||
| 3. | Neon Bible | ||
| 4. | Intervention | ||
| 5. | Black Wave / Bad Vibrations | ||
| 6. | Ocean Of Noise | ||
| 7. | The Well And The Lighthouse | ||
| 8. | (Antichrist Television Blues) | ||
| 9. | Windowsill | ||
| 10. | No Cars Go | ||
| 11. | My Body Is A Cage |