by Jason

Adam Franklin, the front man of the legendary Swervedriver, released a 7” for record store day this year. It’s a beautiful set of ethereal tracks that cover both a Motörhead and a David Bowie track. The song Franklin chose from Motörhead was a very early, 1977 track entitled “Iron Horse/Born to Lose and a 1999 track from Bowie entitled “Thursday’s Child”. Both are incredibly different songs but Franklin places his stamp on them while still paying a deft respectful homage to their creators. Like few artists, Franklin can shape a track in his own way and yet keep the essence of the original floating on the surface.

“Iron Horses/Born to Lose” takes Lemmy’s confrontational tone and turns it into ambient, defiant beauty. The twang and swagger are all still gloriously present, but the dreamy guitars provide a Franklin vibe. Spacey tones reverberate throughout the track and Franklin’s vocals breathe a down to earth grittiness into this reimagined song. “Thursday’s Child” holds an even closer resemblance to the original in that Franklin keeps a similar cadence and tone as Bowie did in the vocals. However, there is still an ambient dreaminess to the track as Franklin lays his signature on the original track. With floaty guitar tones and shimmering high hat throughout, the two tracks, although dissimilar in the originals, really end up being cohesive on this 7”.

Franklin has crafted two beautiful covers that both stay true to Franklin’s long-time vision and pay respectful homage to the both Motörhead and Bowie. Beyond just those observations, Franklin’s versions are beautiful and contemplative. Pick up a copy while you still can.

Purchase the 7″ at the Club AC30 website.