Thursday, June 22, 2023

The Weeklings Inspired Take on "I'm On Fire"

The Weeklings are a terrific New Jersey based band who are well-known for their sterling interpretations and re-imaginings of the music of The Beatles. The group also creates fantastic original power pop music in the spirit of their British Invasion heroes. Their album 3 is one of the best power pop records of the last decade. They released a video for their marvelous rendition of The Fab Four's “I’ve Just Seen A Face” earlier this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGlfZ6up7NI. 

The band’s latest single (on JEM Records) is a superb re-invention of a memorable Bruce Springsteen song. “I’m On Fire,” a classic track from the album Born in the USA, rose to number 6 on the charts in 1985. The Weeklings take this brooding, intense number and re-imagine it as an all out rockabilly rave up. Yes, you read that right. The band reworks “I’m On Fire” into an old school rocker, complete with James Burton-esque guitar and vocals that recall early rock and roll heroes like Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. This splendiferous, electrifying revamp of a much revered tune from The Boss is one of the most electrifying covers I've heard in a very long time.

The Weeklings "I'm On Fire" is a brilliant version of an iconic song that takes it in an entirely different, but tremendously exciting and compelling direction. I think it’ll get stuck in your head, and you’ll find yourself wondering why no one's ever thought of this idea before. Kudos to Glen Burtnik, aka Lefty Weekling, on bass and vocals, Bob Burger, aka Zeek Weekling, on rhythm guitar and vocals, John Merjave, aka Rocky Weekling on lead guitar and vocals, and Joe Bellia, aka Smokestack Weekling, on drums and vocals, for making this left field (but truly inspired) cover of "I'm On Fire" work so well. Check out the video for for the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO43E2LFc8o.
 

1 comment:

  1. That is absolutely great. Thanks for the heads up.

    ReplyDelete