Austin Town Hall

There are few song subjects that lend themselves to expressions of pure happiness.  Songs about automobiles seem to be an exception.  The sense of freedom that comes from driving a car always seems be a joyful experience in songs.  Whether you’re talking about The Beach Boys or The Geto Boys, exalting the virtues of the automobile seems to be a peculiarly American phenomenon.   Most songs seem to be about American cars too as, to my knowledge, no one yet has written a great pop song about a Honda Civic.  Maybe some day.  In the mean time, follow the jump for five great songs about (American) cars.
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We wanted to bring you some Cake this week to celebrate the band’s upcoming appearance at Stubbs on Tuesday the 28th (tickets are sold out btw).  Our from the closet jam, “Frank Sinatra”, has long been a favorite of mine.  It was also my first exposure to the band oh so many years ago and still sounds as fresh as ever.  You can hear it as the opening track on the band’s breakthrough 1996 album Fashion Nugget.

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Download: Cake – Frank Sinatra [MP3]

One of our favorite bands of all time, Cake, just announced an Austin date at Stubbs on April 28th.  Tickets are on sale today for $30.  Get them fast before they sell out!  We’ll remind you about this show again closer to the date.

“CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE!”  Without those five words, Quiet Riot’s career would’ve lasted three months instead of thirty-four years.  It’s a lowdown-dirty shame “Cum on feel the Noize” was actually a cover originally performed by an English glam rock band called Slade back in 1973.  Woah…just felt like Matt Pinfield for a moment.  This week’s edition of the Friday Top 5 is dedicated to the greatest cover songs of all-time…according to me, of course.  Sadly, the following list does not include Limp Bizkit’s disturbing version of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes,” Michael Bolton’s take on Otis Redding, or anything off the I am Sam soundtrack.  Follow the jump to see if your favorite cover song made the list.

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