Janosch Troehler
Editor
Edition #100
The 100th edition of Weekly5 brings another year to closure with new songs by Stu Larsen, BLEU REINE, Adna, Isaac Roux, and a Martin Kohlstedt rework by Mollono.Bass.
reLISTEN #18: Cover Songs
Cover songs can easily be flawed. But we're recommending five examples that add something new to the originals.
Cover songs may have a worse reputation than they deserve: Sometimes, they're considered lazy grifts by musicians less talented than the original artist. Or they fail to come anywhere close to the original's quality.
And we've certainly heard our fair share of great songs getting abysmally butchered in cover versions. Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is a prime candidate for bad takes. It's probably human to distinctly remember the negatives.
However, cover versions used to be much more popular and less frowned upon in the past. It was even more likely that a cover song surpassed the original, and today, many people wouldn't even recognize that it's a cover. Jimi Hendrix's cover of Dylan's All Along the Watchtower is one of the most famous examples, but also Aretha Franklin's Respect, originally by Otis Redding, or Ike & Tina Turner's take on CCR's Proud Mary.
Exclusive Premiere: Laddermen – Programmed for Pleasure
The Swiss band Laddermen return with their new single «Programmed for Pleasure», celebrating its premiere today alongside a stunning video.
With Programmed for Pleasure, the Lucerne-based trio Laddermen ends its silence and makes a dramatic return with their evocative sound. At the same time, the single is already a promise of the intrigue we can expect in the near future.
The new song is a hauntingly atmospheric composition driven by a playful guitar, significant for classic indie rock. However, the monotonous delivery of the verses by Texan-native singer and guitarist Leopold Oakes contrasts the melodic sound and adds to the darker ambience felt throughout Programmed for Pleasure.
Today, Negative White exclusively presents Laddermen's Programmed for Pleasure alongside a stunning and spooky music video directed by Zabalik:
Despite what the gruesome video might suggest, Programmed for Pleasure isn't about murder—it's simply a narrative device. Laddermen explore the hopeless attempts to save a crumbling relationship—perfectly described by the song's first line:
Solving the murder with the killer in the room.
These few words are enough for the sobering realisation that there's no solution when the people, their programmed mechanism killing love, are around. The band doesn't sugarcoat it: Programmed for Pleasure is a despairing song, fooling you with a beautifully melodic sound, an indie rock siren that drags you overboard in the dark depths. And you drown.
A Refined, Melodic Sound
In 2021, Laddermen released their debut album, Special Kind of Violence, featuring eleven songs with a raw energy reminiscent of acts like Fontaines D.C.
Alice Teeple wrote about the single The Huntress Obeyed for post-punk.com: «The nostalgic swoon of Laddermen's sound, bolstered by unconventional singing, deviant progressions, and articulate urgency, has a dark post-punk indie vibe, comparable to Editors, with the passion of Frank Black fronting Interpol.»
With Programmed for Pleasure, Laddemen depart for these rough soundscapes, travelling to more melodic and intricate songs that will be steadily released next year.
Make It Home Alive
Edition #98 recommends fresh tracks by IAMTHELIVING, Nina West, Edwin Rosen, Theo Bleak, and ÄTNA. Get your dose of new music right here.
