Wildhoney – “Kiss Me” (Sixpence None The Richer Cover)
Last year, Wildhoney covered Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me” at a hardcore festival. I watched this, in genuine awe, with my own two eyes. This was at Damaged City, a DC punk fest where most of the bands put their efforts into growling and stomping and glaring and sometimes stagediving. It was a great festival, but it was also great to see someone smash that whole facade to pieces, and that’s what Wildhoney did. Wildhoney, a dreamy shoegaze band from Baltimore, were already the odd band out on the bill. And they steered into it by playing a song from a Christian rock band that blew up after being featured on the soundtrack of a not-good 1998 teen comedy. This was one of the coolest, most surprising things I’ve seen any band do in ages. (People were into it, but they can’t have known that people would be into it.)
Up until now, Wildhoney are probably best-known for the weird little glitch where Urban Outfitters accidentally sold their record to people who were trying to buy Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die on vinyl. But Wildhoney’s slippery, woozy music has always been worth your time.
Next month, Wildhoney, now based on the West Coast, followed up their 2015 EP Your Face Sideways with a new single on Slumberland’s SLR30 Singles Series. The B-side is the band’s cover of “Kiss Me.” Their take on the track is woozy and dreamy but still fundamentally faithful to the original. Check it out below:
We should also mention A-side “Naive Castle,” which rules. “Naive Castle,” which has been online since late last year, is a six-minute sunburst of early-’90s dream-pop, full of chiming guitars and floating vocals and subtly insinuating hooks. It’s the sort of song where you can put it on, close your eyes, and just sort of give a deeply satisfied sigh. Here it is:
The “Naive Castle” single is out 6/28; you can sign up for the SLR30 Singles Series here.