Daily Jam - Doctor

Being of fan of Failure led me to the lush and weird alt-rock sounds of Lusk, due to members of both bands making music together as Replicants.  Listen to "Doctor" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Mindray

My parents were still living in Midland, Texas when I was in college, and I spent many a Friday or Sunday evening, especially around the holidays, driving between Austin and home. A lot of the time, I wouldn’t even get on the road until after 7PM, putting me in the West Texas burg sometime between midnight and one in the morning. And out there on the highway, after the sun had gone down, it’d just be me, the moon and the road, and my case full of CDs to play me into the fading horizon. The five-plus hour drive never really bothered me so long as I had my music with me, songs and albums to soundtrack the time as the twisting, winding paths of the hill country soon gave way to the long stretches of emptiness into the desert. It was peaceful. It was cathartic. It was me-time.

It's summer, and 25 years ago, I might have been getting ready to go, packing up my stuff, or pulling onto the freeway, on my way to see my mom and dad. And I might have been listening to “Mindray” from Lusk’s 1997 album Free Mars. I was probably listening to “Mindray.” I listened to “Mindray” quite a lot. And you should too.

Daily Jam - Destination Unknown

For those not in the know, Replicants was a one-and-done covers project from members of Failure, Lusk, and Tool, a veritable super group of sorts. The band’s self-titled 1995 release featured spacey, alt-rock takes on songs by The Cars, T. Rex, Neil Young, David Bowie, a couple of Beatles, and a whole lot more. Tool’s Maynard James Keenan even pops in, providing vocals on a cover of “Silly Love Songs” of all things. As the record was my initial exposure to Ken Andrews and Failure (one of my all-time favorites), it’s pretty near and dear to my heart, a collection of classic rock jams and a couple of synth wonders spun into '90s jelly. It’s one of those albums I adore from start to finish, but for me, the real raison dêtre is the record’s centerpiece, the propulsive and intoxicating electro-crawl version of Missing Persons’ “Destination Unknown.”

I can’t even begin to recall how many 11th grade events and evenings “Destination Unknown” soundtracked. It feels like it was everywhere, an undercurrent of murky sound that followed me everywhere I went. The song’s mid-'90s, this-is-what-the-future-will-sound-like, pre-millennial aesthetic was like a harbinger of the digital age to come…or at the very least a cool tune to listen to outside while I washed my car in my parents’ driveway, anxiously wondering where the beer was coming from later that night. And while it may sound a little dated now (or just in time for a modern revival), I just can’t help but let it take me back.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Just What I Needed

Still one of my favorite albums from high school, the self-titled lone album from Replicants.  Featuring members of Failure, Lusk, and Tool, the band plays covers of everyone from David Bowie to Missing Persons to Steely Dan.  Here's their version of The Cars' "Just What I Needed," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Undergarden

Here's some trippy '90s space rock from Lusk.  Check out "Undergarden" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam (Covers Week 2) - The Bewlay Brothers

Failure is one of my all time favorite bands, and i discovered them via a covers project called Replicants featuring the members of Failure, Lusk, and a Tool or two.  The 1995 album features covers of everyone from The Cars to T. Rex to Steely Dan, as well as a trippy and spaced out version of David Bowie's "The Bewlay Brothers," a track that was already pretty trippy and spaced out in its own right.  Check the cover tune out below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Bowie (Cover Week) - The Bewlay Brothers by Replicants

One of my favorite albums from  high school, Replicants was a sort of supergroup consisting of members of Failure, Lusk, and Tool.  On their sole album, the group play covers of bands such as Pink Floyd, T. Rex, The Cars, Missing Persons, and more.  One of the highlights, on an album full of them i might add, is the group's weird and spaced-out rendition of Bowie's "The Bewlay Brothers," and is one of the very few instances where i like the cover better than Bowie's original.  Listen below.