Album: I Just Wanna
Artist: Switches
(Bandcamp)
Four stars out of five
If you’re going to cover an artist’s career-defining hit, you might want to take a few lessons from Edmonton’s Switches. Their version of Tracy Chapman’s wistful acoustic ditty, Fast Car, is one of the best covers of ANY song EVER — because the Edmonton garage-punks render it almost unrecognizable. “I had a feeling I could be someone,” Tara McMahon snarls triumphantly as a gritty guitar and an NHL-style organ tussle in the back seat. Even better, their rendition doesn’t stick out like a Mustang in a fleet of jalopies on the foursome’s new album, I Just Wanna, due Nov. 4. (Look for it on Bandcamp.) Their Fast Car sounds like just another one of the gang — you might need a few spins before you even realize it’s a cover — fitting in with tunes about beers, babes and bad-assery. “I just wanna shake it up / My way,” McMahon warns on the title track, a fast ’n’ ferocious number. “I just want her now,” she howls on Ma Cherie, a ’50s-style ballad punctuated with disheveled back-up vocals. “I don’t need you by my side / But I still want you by my side,” she weighs her options on Stole All My Stuff. There’s no doubt about it: McMahon and her pals — Marlaena Moore, Tamar Dinner and Stefan Opryshko — will steal your heart. Switches kick off a 11-date western tour on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at Wunderbar, 8120 101st St. The Sorels and Book of Caverns will open. Tickets are $10 at the door.
Catch Switches in these fine cities:
Nov. 6 – Saskatoon, SK @ Vangelis Tavern
Nov. 7 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Windsor Hotel
Nov. 8 – Regina, SK @ German Hall
Nov. 9 – Lethbridge, AB @ Electric Eye Manor
Nov. 10 – Calgary, AB @ Pizza Bob’s
Nov. 11- Vernon BC @ Gallery Vertigo Suite
Nov. 12 – Kelowna, BC @ Fernando’s Pub
Nov. 13 – Victoria, BC @ Logan’s Pub
Nov. 14 -Vancouver, BC @ The Lido
Nov. 15 – Vancouver, BC-@ The Railway Club
