At the perfect time—when many of us feel like we are, in fact, losing our minds—the Brooklyn duo presents their take on the Pixies hit, a cover they recorded (incorporating a fidget spinner!) in 2017
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In the spirit of transparency, as a human being with, um, eyes, my first impression of Lady Lightning was admittedly pretty shallow: GodDAMN, they’re hot.
Fortunately, I’m also a human being with ears, because what wowed me as much their bone structure (I’M SORRY I’LL STOP) was their music: ’80s-inspired pop rock that—since first experiencing it in the intimate setting of Sofar Sounds—I’ve been dying to catch live on a bigger stage. And beyond that, there was the duo’s chemistry—the kind unique to those who are not just musical partners, but go back more than a decade.
Best friends and bandmates, Graci Carli and Tony Bush played in different projects and lived in different cities before finally converging in Brooklyn, forming Lady Lightning and eventually releasing their debut EP Sleepover in 2019. (My favorite songs: “Heaven” and “Lucky Love,” which appear on both my run-around-the-park and my lip-sync-embarrassingly-on-the-subway-platform playlists… plus, more recently, my stay-at-home soundtrack.)
Now, a little more than six months after interviewing them at Carmelo’s (sidenote—because this is not just a premiere, but apparently a love letter as well: they’re also the nicest humans in the fucking world), I’m thrilled to share their new release: an airy cover of the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind,” done—in true Lady Lightning fashion—as a duet.
“It was a song we both like a whole lot,” the band told me over email when I asked what inspired the cover. “It didn’t really seem to fit any sort of sound that we were going for at the time, so it provided us a cool opportunity to go somewhere very different with it. Any time that we approach a song we are in the unique spot of always addressing the song as a duet. This song just felt like it lended itself to that style very well.”
Beyond transforming the 1988 hit into a song for two, the band drew on various instruments from their toolkit—and toy chest—to make it their own:
“We threw a bunch of different sounds at it during production. There’s some trap elements to it. There’s acoustic guitar. Acoustic drums. Sampled drums. And also, fun fact, in the intro that panning sound accompanying the piano is the sound of a fidget spinner So that tells you exactly the moment in time we recorded it. It was summer 2017 when fidget spinners were cool. So hopefully they make a comeback.”
Given our certain situation, I personally wouldn’t be surprised to see fidget spinner stock rising soon. (“Try this trick and spin it, yeah…”)
Enjoy this magic cover (out everywhere soon!) and be sure to check out Sleepover for more Lady Lightning songs that, if you’re anything like me, you’re sure to love.
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Listen to the band on Bandcamp, add to your playlists on Spotify, follow them on Instagram at @ladylightningmusic and find all things Lady Lighting at ladylightningmusic.com
Art and photo provided by the band.