10 Recent Indie-Rock Covers You'll Never Go Back From
7. Jade Bird - Walk Like An Egyptian (Original: The Bangles)
Leave it Jade Bird to somehow give us a faster and more upbeat version of this 1980s classic. Launching it as part of a Spotify Singles session along with fan favourite "Uh Huh", it's no wonder it exceeded a million plays on the streaming service.
Normally featuring an almost impossible to keep up with drumbeat, her speed on the guitar more than matches the sheer frenetic tempo here, with an added key change that makes audiences inherently crave to dance along. Further helping the pace of Bird's incarnation, her choice to streamline the song rather than replicate it in its entirety gives the song the extra punch that it needs to really deliver.
Perhaps even more impressively, the vocals didn't suffer either, with her full-on approach injecting a much-welcomed sense of fun. Her refusal to hold back gave her version a loose, raw energy that is just missing from the original, a sound which permeates all the way through her debut album.
The popularity of Bird's cover has led her to perform it at a number of different shows, including one for Radio X's Great X-Pectations. And with good reason, as it looks like an absolute banger to see live.