Country duo Muscadine Bloodline dropped some sauce on us with their last record, Teenage Dixie, this past February. They surprised us on the 12thof June with the other side of the coin – a new EP called Teenage Angst. As the name suggests, the four-song collection are covers of some of the brightest (or darkest?) gems of the emo period that a lot of us have either been a part of or witnessed from the jock lunch table. Muscadine’s Charlie Muncaster and Gary Stanton really put their souls into these renditions and conveyed their unique flair through these classics.
First up, we have Yellowcard’s Only One, in which Muscadine slowed down the tune and stripped it down to a primarily acoustic version. It’s a great cover that comes across as even more gut-wrenching than Yellowcard’s original. The next track is blink-182’s Adam’s Song – a true classic. Blink fans can be very cautious when it comes to artists taking on their favorite band’s songs, but I have a feeling even the biggest skater boys and girls will dig Muscadine’s rendition. There’s a certain swing to their version aided by the cadence, drum pattern, even down to the plucking of the strings. Just a fantastic cover.
Jimmy Eat World’s Hear You Me is flawlessly performed as the third track. The mix of twang and soul is spotlighted in the vocal work here and the instrumentals compliment each other perfectly. Rounding out the EP is my personal favorite, Mayday Parade’s Jamie All Over. The original song is such a banger, I must admit that I was nervous on if a cover could be pulled off… it was. Muscadine maintained the emotion in their slowed down, simple take on the emo standard and pretty much made it their own.
In case you weren’t persuaded yet, I’m ordering you to give Muscadine Bloodline’s new cover EP, Teenage Angst, a listen right now! It’ll send you down a path of nostalgia and melodrama in the best way possible – and you’ll love every minute of it.
Cover Photo by Matt Turpin