“Covered” is a whenever-we-feel-like-it feature where we see a striking album cover and then write words about it. Why is it so awesome? Does it match the music inside? We’ll investigate.
WHY IT’S AWESOME
If you’re good people, you know that astronauts are visual shorthand for danger, endorphins, and pathological excellence. If you’re my best friend, you wish Saul Bass was your dad (and also your mom). So when you look at the cover for experimental rock band Pere Ubu’s Lady From Shanghai, you think, “Yes, I would like to travel the galaxies on the back of a hammerhead shark.” Is it a surf rock throwback? A Rat Pack-influenced effort? Modern indie pop in the vein of The Shins?
DOES IT MATCH THE MUSIC?
No, because it sounds like Yoko Ono giving birth to a fax machine in the middle of 5 o’clock traffic. Listen, I’m all for experimental mu- wait, no I’m not. Different strokes, different folks. However, unless I’m going to opening night at the MoMA, I prefer to limit my art consumption to things that don’t make me feel like a witch has put a hex on my ears. If you’re going to dress up your album with a “Venture Bros.”-esque spaceman, work a little space age magic on that soundboard. Don’t give me Ariel Pink’s socially maladjusted older brother.
— Eric