August 3 — “Crazy”, as covered by The Godrays

The Godrays

If you only listen to one song today, make it “Crazy”, as covered by The Godrays (1996, from the Songs for TV Stars). The original version of the song was done by Versus, on their 1995 album Dead Leaves.

The Godrays was an indie-rock duo that may or may not have been from Providence, Rhode Island. They were a spin-off from the brilliant Providence indie band Small Factory. When that band split up in 1995 or so, Alex Kemp and Phoebe Summersquash formed The Godrays. They only released one full length album, and for my money, it’s a really good one. Kemp and Summersquash are huge Versus fans. Small Factory had a song called “Versus Tape”

I can’t seem to get it straight
Stay up late and sleep all day
Listen to my Versus tape
…
That tape is the world spinning ’round

On Songs for TV Stars, The Godrays do “Crazy” better than Versus did their own song.

This is that song.
“Crazy” as covered by The Godrays

It starts off a bit slower, but otherwise very true to the Versus original. While there may have been a temptation to switch the coed vocal roles, they stuck with the way Versus did it.

Although The Godrays’ version is slower, it somehow keeps in step with the Versus original. When the change of pace occurs at 2:47 in both songs, it’s much more dramatic in The Godrays’ version. Much more shocking. Versus was known for being loud, and they only teased at that in their version of their own song. It cranks up the volume and energy only a little bit there. The Godrays tore it apart there. It doesn’t get ridiculously loud, but it goes really heavy-footed on the distortion effects and the feedback. I love it.

While the Versus original goes with the slight change of pace for the rest of the song, and has a crazily long fade at the end, The Godrays version changes back to the slower pace and the quieter tone. It also ends with 15 seconds of sustain and feedback instead of the annoyingly drawn-out fade.

I like the Versus original. I lurve the cover by The Godrays.

Because I love all of you dear and loyal readers, I’m going to take the legwork out of it for you. So you don’t have to hunt down the Versus original, here it is. For comparison’s sake.

“Crazy” by Versus

It seems like everything that was ever written about Small Factory or The Godrays has a line about Summersquash’s name, and I’m not going to be the first to leave it alone. Yes, it’s her real name. Yes, it’s an indie-as-fuck name.

Songs for TV Stars is out of print, but you can find copies online for next to nothing. There are a handful of sellers in the Amazon market here.