A.V. Club Undercover

An introduction to our new music-video series, in which 25 bands will cover 25 songs in The A.V. Club office.

We've been meaning to show this off for a while: The folks from the excellent Illinois-based band Headlights were kind enough to be our guinea pigs for this year's Undercover series, playing us their version of XTC's "Making Plans For Nigel." You'll notice that the room isn't decorated yet, and the song wasn't on a list; we just asked them to play a cover, and here it is! Headlights' latest release is last year's Wildlife. Buy six!

What better way to kick off Undercover: Summer Break than with a pair of Chicago institutions? Here, Maps & Atlases—a Chicago band that released its excellent full-length debut, Perch Patchwork, on Barsuk last year—met us at the massive Threadless warehouse. The T-shirt giant’s headquarters is maybe even more fun than you’d expect: They have a basketball court, a grill, and a giant robot. The band absolutely nailed Seals & Crofts’ 1972 hit “Summer Breeze,” and it made us all feel fine. Special thanks to Lance and Colleen at Threadless for hosting the taping!

You may not have heard of Yellow Ostrich yet, but the New York trio—originally the one-man recording project of singer-guitarist Alex Schaaf—will be blowing up your playlist soon enough. The band—which now features former Beirut utility player Jon Natchez—will re-release its previously download-and-vinyl-only full-length The Mistress via Barsuk Records in August. For Undercover: Summer Break, the band tackled “In The Summertime,” which was a massive, massive hit for a British band called Mungo Jerry in 1970. The special location for this taping: the gorgeous Navy Pier deck outside Chicago Public Radio station WBEZ, home to such fine shows at Eight Forty-Eight and Sound Opinions. Thanks to S.O. producer Jason Saldhana for location scouting.

Josh Caterer has led Illinois pop-punk heroes Smoking Popes off and on for 20 years, but for his rendition of The Smiths’ classic “Ask” (“spending warm summer days indoors…”), he recruited some other Chicagoans to back him up. Elia and Ethan of Scotland Yard Gospel Choir add some sweetness and light to the proceedings, and cellist Jenny Choi has played with dozens of musicians in the city. It was fitting that Caterer chose a Smiths song to play, since he’s a devoted Morrissey fan—and the feeling is mutual. Moz once called the Popes’ Born To Quit one of his favorite albums of all time. The Smoking Popes’ latest album is called This Is Only A Test, and this installment was filmed on the roof deck of the band’s booking agent, Tim Edwards.

Michigan’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. took Pavement’s “Summer Babe”—from the unstoppable Slanted And Enchanted—and removed much of its indie-angst, leaving behind a pretty little summer ditty. That was perfect for the sunny day that greeted us on the porch of some A.V. Club readers that we’re collectively calling the Throop Troop (against their wishes—the apartment is on Throop Street). Dale’s latest is the mellow, ingratiating It’s A Corporate World.

Fate landed Doug Sohn (proprietor of the world’s greatest encased meat emporium, Hot Doug’s), Mike Kinsella (of Cap’n Jazz, Joan Of Arc, and sole proprietor of the band Owen), and me at the same dinner table a couple of months ago. (The occasion: The Graham Elliot third anniversary dinner. Yum.) Undercover: Summer Break was just an idea at that point, but we immediately hatched a plan to shoot a song at the restaurant (which Anthony Bourdain proclaimed one of “13 places to eat before you die”). We offered to come in after hours, since Hot Doug’s is pretty much always packed, but the ever-affable Sohn thought it would be more fun if we filmed while the restaurant was bustling—and he treated us to delicious sausages. The background noise adds some cool layers to Kinsella’s sweet, acoustic version of Jane’s Addiction’s “Summertime Rolls.”

In the midst of a reunion tour with his old band Archers Of Loaf, Eric Bachmann—who now records as Crooked Fingers—met us atop an iconic Chicago building to perform the George Gershwin staple “Summertime,” which has been covered in the past by everyone from Billie Holiday to The Zombies. But none of them played it (as far as we know) on the 22nd floor observation deck of Tribune Tower, the 85-year-old neo-Gothic wonder that houses the Chicago Tribune, among other businesses. The next Crooked Fingers album will be out in October, and Archers Of Loaf will make a very special Chicago appearance this September, which we’ll tell you about soon… Thanks to Randy Sidell and our partners at the Tribune and RedEye for helping secure this location.

Just so you’re not disappointed: No, Les Savy Fav singer Tim Harrington does not jump off the yacht into Lake Michigan. He’s a wild man, and one of the most entertaining frontmen in rock, but he doesn’t have a death wish. Still, he got as crazy as a 100-passenger rented yacht would allow, as you’ll see from the band’s rendition of Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” which features a chorus of A.V. Club staff and guests. And for all of your boating party needs, try The Celebration, which launches out of Navy Pier. They were very nice to us.

We had Crooked Fingers trapped on the outside deck at Tribune Tower, so it would've been a waste to just stop at one song. Mainman Eric Bachmann jokingly asked why we didn't just have the duo play its own "Sleep All Summer" as a summer song. (Answer: It's not a cover if you wrote it...) Anyway, here's that. We recorded another pair of songs up there as well, which we're going to hang on to and play for you a little closer to the release of Crooked Fingers' new album, Breaks In The Armor, which comes out in October.