Australian alt-rock trio Middle Kids followed up this year’s excellent self-titled debut EP by offering covers of Car Seat Headrest’s “Fill In The Blank” and Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” and now they’ve added another cover to that list: a spare, haunting version of Blink-182’s pop-punk classic “All The Small Things” that they recorded for Amazon’s Amazon Acoustics playlist. “In this recording, we were attempting to re-imagine a pop-punk classic as a sad country ballad,” the band explain. “We kept the beautiful words and the melody, but changed instrumentation to bring out different emotion.”
Sydney’s Middle Kids are currently one of the most successful musical exports that Australia has produced in recent times. With the group already riding high on a wave of success, they’ve just gone and released a brilliant acoustic cover of Blink-182’s ‘All The Small Things’, the group’s new “sad folk version” of the classic pop-punk anthem comes as part of an upcoming compilation album by online retailing giant Amazon
“We don’t play covers in our live set, but we are interested in the infinite discovery of what makes a ‘great’ song,” the band said. “In this recording, we were attempting to re-imagine a pop-punk classic as a sad country ballad. We kept the beautiful words and the melody, but changed instrumentation to bring out different emotion.”
The group’s cover of the track comes from the new Amazon Acoustics playlist, which is set to drop tomorrow. The playlist also includes a number of other brilliant artists performing acoustic originals and covers, such as Beach Slang, Cody ChesnuTT, Richard Edwards of Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s, and Ruby Empress.
You might also recall the other brilliant covers that Middle Kids have tackled lately, including their astonishing version of Crowded House’s ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ for triple j’s Like A Version, and their cover of Car Seat Headrest’s ‘Fill In The Blank’ for the SiriusXMU Sessions. .
Middle Kids are a Sydney-based bundle of sheer buzz at the moment, but in our books it’s more than justified. Their debut EP is a lovely piece of work, and hit single ‘Edge Of Town’ bowls us over every time.
Today, they have a new gem for us in the form of a glimmering piano take on ‘Fill In The Blank’ by Car Seat Headrest, performed as part of their live SiriusXMU Sessions recently. The guitar-based original makes it through the translation brilliantly, maybe even ending up as our preferred version as it comes out the other side.
Middle Kids are currently in the middle of a US tour, but they’re set to make their way back onto home shores back in November, Check out Middle Kids’ cover of Blink-182’s ‘All The Small Things’, below.
With the confidence Middle Kids display in their songwriting and performances, it’s hard to believe just how new of a band they are.
The emerging indie pop band from Sydney, Australia has its roots in 2014 when classically trained pianist Hannah Joy met multi-instrumentalist Tim Fitz, who worked as producer for Joy’s solo work. The project turned collaborative, and shortly after they recruited drummer Harry Day. Before the band had even played a show, they wrote and recorded their incredible debut single “Edge of Town”, which gained quick exposure after Elton John shared the track on his radio show and Apple Music playlist.
They quickly released their debut self-titled EP, which was recorded partially in their garage. They arrived in Toronto for a tour stop with Cold War Kids at the Danforth Music Hall, and played a short set for us in the StieglHidden Studio which included “Edge of Town” and two other stand-out tracks from their EP. Check out their performance below and see for yourself why Middle Kids have blown up so quickly (and to check out Hannah’s unique upside-down guitar playing.)
Middle Kids perform “Edge of Town”, “Fire In Your Eyes”, and “Old River” live for Indie88 in the Stiegl Hidden Studio.
Middle Kids are a Sydney-based bundle of sheer buzz at the moment, but in our books it’s more than justified. Their debut EP is an astounding listen and hit single ‘Edge Of Town’ has been a huge song everywhere and bowls us over every time it pops up in our playlists .
Today, they have a new gem for us in the form of a glimmering piano take on ‘Fill In The Blank’ by Car SeatHeadrest, performed as part of their live Sirius XMU Sessions recently. The guitar-based original makes it through the translation brilliantly, maybe even ending up as our preferred version as it comes out the other side.
Of course, Middle Kids are just paying it forward with this cover, having recently been honoured by Something ForKate frontman Paul Dempsey with beautiful arranged version of their hit single .
For more live gems checkout Middle Kids, they’re heading out on tour with Ryan Adams
Sydney trio Middle Kids released their impressive debut single “Edge Of Town” earlier this month, The song is anchored by Hannah Joy’s gripping vocals and some of the most natural and non-overpowering slide guitar work I have heard to date. It all builds to a gradual tempo change that brings the track to a blistering finale. The video, directed by guitarist Tim Fitz together with Ro Miles, cuts back and forth from a steady shot of Joy walking down the street, interspersed with clips of the trio performing the song in a house, drinking tea, and Joy singing to her reflection in the mirror. A statement from the band:
We wrote the video clip and filmed it with friends. We wanted it to be interesting without being too distracting, something raw and casual like a Pixies clip. It also contains a loose narrative of what happens when a mysterious visitor shows up at your door wearing a crown. But it is predominantly a series of domestic images with a surreal undertone: the watering of dead plants, the closed door, the ticking of a metronome, a lonely man playing slide guitar, a woman walking at twilight.
Australian three-piece Middle Kids first came to public attention with the release of their debut single “Edge Of Town” in May last year. Elton John declared himself a fan, Triple J placed the song on high rotation, and across North America the track received significant radio support on over 30 AAA/Alt stations.
To date, ‘Edge Of Town’ has accumulated more than 3 million streams on Spotify. Not bad for a band that, when they recorded the single, hadn’t played a single show. Now, Middle Kids have shows in Australia, America, and Europe under their belt; and they’re preparing for a major tour across the US with Cold War Kids, with headline shows and a stop at SXSW also plotted – big achievements for a band that is destined for so many more, starting with the release of their debut EP, out February 17th on Domino Recordings.
The Fat Angel Sings 