UV-TV – “Happy Place” (The Jesus & Mary Chain Cover)
UK bleary-rock greats the Jesus And Mary Chain have never, in their turbulent decades-long careers, released a bad song. Even if you dig in to the special-edition reissues with all the bonus tracks, you will only find bangers. You will find bangers so potent, in fact, that bands are still willing to cover those deep, deep cuts more than 30 years later.
Consider the case of the Gainsville-born and New York-based band UV-TV — another band who, at least as far as I can tell, has never put out a bad song. Last year, UV-TV released HAPPY, their second album of hooky, fuzzy, fired-up garage-punk jams. And today, as a nice little surprise, they’ve dropped a fun cover of the Jesus And Mary Chan obscurity “Happy Place.”
“Happy Place” originally appeared as a B-side on the 1987 single “Happy When It Rains,” and you can find it on the reissues of the JAMC sophomore album Darklands. It’s the kind of catchy, zoned-out space-jangle that the band could make in their sleep. The UV-TV take on the song is faster and sprightlier, and it’s still plenty catchy. Below, listen to UV-TV’s cover and to the JAMC original.
HAPPY is out now on Deranged Records.