Toby Hartleroad runs down five great covers
Hartle Road—a four-piece adventurous pop band from Columbus, Mississippi—always captures and conquers the audience’s attention during their stellar live sets. Their set lists follow a free and fine-tuned progression, taking the audience through heady harmonies, unexpected guitar wizardry, and excellent cover tunes. We invited Hartle Road front man Toby Hartleroad to share five of his favorite cover tunes below—give all five a listen and also be sure to check out Hartle Road’s most recent record “Max II” courtesy of K Records. (Photo credit: Dylan Scott)
“Liquid Meat (Into A Form)” by The Service Industry (2008)
“Why would anybody order something that would do them harm?” – A question that has come to my mind many times over my adult life in this postmodern hellscape we call the U.S.A. and, yet, the McRib really does keep coming back. I suppose we get more and more sentimental the older we get, and the blessing of being able to play with so many bands over our lives is one that only grows. We played with The Service Industry at the Dog & Duck Pub one random day at SXSW in Austin in 2010. We were vaguely familiar with their work before that through mutual friends in the Austin scene. We cover this simply to spread the good news and continue the thread of art as collaboration. Very good people make up this band and what a great song.
“Everybody Felix” by Dean Warehem (1997)
Since the days of high school, Dean Warehem’s voice and guitar work has been a soundtrack to many of our daily drives and commutes through his work with Galaxie 500 and Luna. Much like ourselves, Wareham is an intense appreciator of the art that shaped his artistic output. Galaxie 500 covered acts like Jon Richman and the Velvet Underground. Luna covered acts like The Beat Happening, etc. “Everybody Felix” is a song that is unreleased outside of being able to hear it in the final scene of Baumbach’s film. Ennui and post-grad life permeate the film as much as Wareham’s song for it. Wareham himself is even in the film. Hopefully, when we cover this, it is meant in the same way when Jon Richman himself used to cover “Foggy Notion” by the Velvet Underground long before any recordings of that song were released or accessible. Simply sharing the good word. I named my cat after this song. Hello Felix and happy birthday!
“Days” by television (1978)
One of those bands that really helped form our own musical identities. Of course, we’ve covered “Marquee Moon” quite a few times over the past decade, but really, their second record, “Adventure,” is really the one that separates the kids from the adults. Refining the production of their debut, “Adventure” hits a little softer. Verlaine, Lloyd, Smith, and Ficca are in full form as the band that New York needed, only New York really didn’t realize the gravity of the situation. Low sales and minimal press led the band to disband shortly after, though Verlaine and company continued to put out great records under various projects in the following years before reuniting for one final brilliant glimpse of New York with Television in 1992. “Be more than all we have.” R.I.P. Tom Verlaine.
“You’re Mine” by Robert & Johnny (1956)
America’s unsung heroes. Robert and Johnny. A track that illuminates so much of the human condition in its simplicity and sincerity. Can be found on various film soundtracks over the years, perhaps most notably in Scorsese’s “After Hours.” Robert & Johnny really didn’t output a whole lot of material, but the tracks that they did release have been ones we come back to frequently. The band actually has a whole EP of Robert & Johnny songs recorded and that will (hopefully) be released soon. In the throes of the pandemic, I logged onto Discogs and purchased an Italian cassette featuring them and the Platters. By the end of the lockdown, we had recorded the entire side of Robert & Johnny tunes. They epitomize so much of what is incredible about American recorded music. We look forward to sharing with you one day.
“We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together” by the Velvet Underground (1986)
This version was recorded much earlier but it is finally released on “Another View” in 1986. Words to live by – “There is never a wrong time to play the Velvet Underground.” I feel like the music scenes of the world would be in a better place if everyone just put down their “assumed” original thoughts and instead dedicated themselves to covering the Velvet Underground night in and night out. So primal that you can feel it even when playing the song nearly 60 years after it’s written. It’s a testament to the power of New York City and America as the melting pot. It’s a weird world out there, no Lou Reed, no Tom Verlaine, no David Lynch, no Malcolm X, no Bill Russell, no Ernest Hemingway, no Julee Cruise, no Kobe Bryant, no Robert Altman. And yet still, we do have a real good time when we get together. God bless and keep hope in your heart.
