Kill Rock Stars have released a second installment in their 30th anniversary cover series, Stars Rock Kill (Rock Stars), which sees artists from across the world cover the label’s historic catalog. This latest cover sees Mike Watt of Minutemen fame team up with The Black Gang for a cover of Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl,” which was originally featured on their 1993 album Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah.
Watt and The Black Gang’s take on “Rebel Girl,” features a raw distorted guitar and bassline, which charge through a majority of the instrumental. Watt’s distinct vocals give the cover a slight punk vibe, but the guitar solo channels elements of the blues, which works well with this lo-fi production style. Nels Cline of Wilco handles the song’s guitars, Watt also handles bass, while Bob Lee handles drums.
“Me and K have a two bass-only band called Dos and we opened up for Bikini Kill once and that’s where I first witnessed this tune ‘Rebel Girl’ getting played. I just knew it was their song, the same way I first saw Superchunk do ‘Slack Motherfucker’ and ‘pert-near just like that time, immediately I wanted to do my own version of it,” Watt explained in a press release.
Watt introduced his new band mssv during the Big Ears music festival live stream last year, which was recorded at the Ijams Nature Center. Described as “post-genre power trio” the band also includes Mike Baggetta and Stephen Hodges. The performer also had his collaborative track with Sonic Youth “Burnin’ Up” released on Bandcamp last year. He also appeared on a cover of “Fun House” alongside members of Sonic Youth, Mudhoney and The Stooges.
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