What do you for an encore after releasing a critically acclaimed album grappling with everything from the current state of American politics to the fiction of the late Denis Johnson? If you’re Washington, D.C.’s Priests, the answer is simple, and it’s found in the back catalog of metal legend Glenn Danzig.
To follow up their album The Seduction of Kansas, the group spent a day in Washington studio Tonal Park recording a cover of Danzig’s 1988 song “Mother.” This new version ups the tempo somewhat, turning the song into something that’s much friendlier on dancefloor. The original version of the song achieved a second life with the 1993 release of a live version, which quickly achieved popularity due in part to its appearance on MTV’s Beavis and Butt-head.
Priests’ version is available exclusively via Amazon Music; you can also hear it below.
They’re also not the only band to unexpectedly cover “Mother” in recent years: in 2011, Baltimore indie rock duo Wye Oak recorded their own distinct take on it, as far removed from Priests’ cover as the Priests version is from Danzig’s original.
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