SOAK – “Bloodbuzz Ohio” (The National Cover)
Way back in April, the young Derry, Northern Ireland native Bridie Monds-Watson released Grim Town, her second album as SOAK. Beyond her own tunes, she’s delivered some intriguing covers this year including the 1975’s “Love It If We Made It” and Sleater-Kinney’s “Modern Girl.” And today she’s taken on another modern indie classic, the National’s “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” which recently appeared on our list of the decade’s best songs.
Despite deeply personal lyrics that reference Matt Berninger’s own roots in Ohio, the song translates well to a foreigner’s care. Monds-Watson has reduced “Bloodbuzz Ohio” to mostly just breathy voice and loosely strummed guitar with a brief and effective keyboard interlude. She sounds great singing “I still owe money to the money to the money I owe,” bringing out a bright, tuneful quality that gets lost in the original song’s swirl of noise and the depth of Berninger’s baritone.
Basically she’s turned it from one kind of prestige TV sync music into another, a notion that aligns quite well with her quote from the press release: “There’s something so special about the imagery the National manages to create within their music and I often catch myself imagining each song as its own movie trailer. I love the manic world this song creates.”
Listen below — and if you’re in the mood for even more SOAK covers, back when she was a precocious teen she delivered takes on Chvrches, St. Vincent, and Led Zeppelin too.