Bad Copy

Here’s another crack at this cover to cover music series. This time around, I’m going to talk about a song called “Devotion.” This is a song for which I heard the cover version first. Didn’t even realize that it was a cover in fact.

The Original:

Performed by The Stereo. The Stereo are a rock band that was formed in 1999 by members of Animal Chin and The Impossibles. Their first album was Three Hundred, released in 1999 by Fueled By Ramen. This is the album on which our song comes from. In 2009, the magazine Alternative Press called the album one of the 10 most influential albums from 1999 that shaped punk.

It is a feel good melodic rock song about a guy that will do anything for his love interest. It’s got a nice little guitar break in it that I enjoy.

The Cover:

Lamonta is a pop/punk band from Sacramento, California. This band has released a bunch of EPs and singles but as far as I can tell have only released on full length album which was the 2019 LP Exactly! Their version of the song “Devotion” was released as a single in 2021 by Shove-It Records.

To be honest, there isn’t much deviation from the original. It still has that feel good melodic rock feel to it. There is still a really cool guitar break in there. The song really does justice to the original. The thing I like about it, maybe a little more than the original, is the minor inflection changes to it. You kind of have to listen carefully to catch them but they are there.

So my personal preference is toward the cover but really only slightly. But what about you? Which one do you prefer?

So there is my second attempt at this cover to cover thing. What do you think? Do you like this thing? What can I improve on?

I still have a lot of ideas for future posts so keep your eyes out for them.