It's Saturday morning and I'm awake really early goofing around and making a new mix compilation CD for my car. I've decided to put on "Rock and Roll Girl" and since I haven't written a cover lover article in a while, I thought this is perfect.
I came across this song via The Muffs, a fuzzy pop-punk band from the early 90s from Southern California. Although they have stated in interviews that they have not broken up, it's hard to ignore that they've been pretty much inactive since 2004.
Their singer, Kim Shattuck, has a snarly, but unique, voice, and I think she's really into obscure garage bands, as seen on their album Hamburger... However, I think the song that they're probably best known for is "Kids in America", a Kim Wilde cover (oh don't worry, we're going to have a "Kids in America" cover lover post eventually).
Trying to figure out some of the covers on Hamburger, I found The Beat, a band that debut with The Beat in 1979. The band was lead by Paul Collins, and eventually people started referring The Beat to Paul Collins' Beat - and it would make searching a lot easier, I suppose.
I actually don't have any other music from The Beat, other than this song for comparison, but they seem to be rock and rolly, probably based out of Los Angeles, as heard on their song "I wish there was an easier way, to meet all the girls in LA".
Between the two version, I would love to nod to The Muffs, just because it feels a little more updated and a little more punky. Plus, there's something sinister when you hear Shattuck sings "I wanna be with the rock n roll girl".
Both songs are now on my mix CD.
