Posted on: June 25, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

It is really hard for an act to successfully create a cover song. I understand that there are a tremendous amount of covers out there currently, but one has to admit that the vast majority of them are pretty garish. If they sound decent, chances are good that they do nothing to make the track their own, while even if they do try to traipse down another track, their effort may just not be too stellar. I know that this is a mini-rant, but it has a purpose.

“Vengeance Is Mine” is Brutus Faust’s new album, and it represents a collection of cover tracks that both are good in terms of quality and represent a change in the status quo. The first track that immediately caught my eye had to be the oft-covered “House of the Rising Sun”, which was popularized in the sixties by The Animals. The track contains the same general melody, but there is a more gritty feel to the track that really is integral for painting a realistic picture of New Orleans, both currently and in the time period the original song was written. Brutus Faust’s retooling of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” is more of a sea change than his “House of the Rising Sun”. While the violin work is based off the original, there is a different tempo and even a modification to the overall genre of the track. What was a bit of blues-laden bit of sixties pop and rock is now something tying together New Romantic-styled atmosphere with a little bit of gothabilly flair.

It is not until Brutus Faust takes on The Proclaimers’ 1988 track “500 Miles (I’m Gonna Be)” that Faust’s talent is truly shown. What was merely a pop oddity that was enough of a roadside attraction to catapult it onto the charts originally, Faust’s version is a slowed-down, introspective look into a relationship that will appease fans of eighties country alongside those that want something unique. Regardless of whether one liked the original tracks, Brutus Faust’s versions are just so different, so interesting that one should hunt out the disc.

Top Tracks: 500 Miles (I’m Gonna Be), Bad Moon Rising

Rating: 8.6/10

Brutus Faust – Vengeance Is Mine / 2010 Self / 13 Tracks / http://www.brutusfaust.com

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