While musicians are coping with a change of pace as venues around the country have been shuttered, Nashville rockers Bully are looking to other artists’ music for solace. The group’s lead vocalist, Alicia Bognanno, teamed up with Sub Pop to pull from the iconic label’s lengthy catalog and create a physical 7-inch and cassette release of covers.
For the first cover, Bognanno chose to rework Nirvana’s 1989 classic “About A Girl,” which originally appeared on the band’s debut album Bleach. The singer keeps the song’s charged instrumentals and grumbling vocal delivery while adding her recognizable cadence. Bognanno’s second cover moves away from ’90s-era grunge into contemporary music. Bully selected a single from the infamously masked cowboy’s debut album, Pony. The singer infuses her style into a rendition of Orville Peck’s “Turn To Hate.”
In a statement, Bognanno explained her reasoning behind releasing the covers: “Normally during this time I’d be running around trying to promote the upcoming record and rehearsing to get ready to tour again but given the circumstances, I’m trying to work with what I can do at home alone. I picked a couple Sub Pop songs to cover to release something in the meantime. I played everything on these songs (for better or worse haha) and tracked them in my living room. Gotta do what ya gotta to spice it up sometimes.”
Listen to Bognanno cover “About A Girl” and “Turn To Hate” above.
About A Girl/Turn To Hate is out now via Sub Pop. Get it here.