Bysts
Bysts is a darkwave/psych-rock/shoegaze duo from Salt Lake City. I know very little about them, and they probably like it that way. Their names are Bryan and Stefanie, and they released their debut album Offer Your Throat in the spring of 2017. I remember hearing their cover of The Cure’s “Killing an Arab” on the The Cure in Other Voices tribute album released by The Blog that Celebrates Itself. Here they are again on the tribute to Love and Rockets.
By now, everybody knows how fond I am of the tribute albums they do at TBTCI. Last month, the Brazilian blog/label released another in their long line of fantastic tributes, and that most recent one is an homage to Love and Rockets. Everyone who reads this probably already knows that Love and Rockets emerged from the ashes of goth rock kings Bauhaus. After that band broke up, frontman Peter Murphy had a solo career that was decent while his Bauhaus band mates enjoyed more success, and even some crossover into the mainstream. As you may recall, “So Alive” was a huge hit, even on top 40 radio. The video also got lots of play on MTV even apart from “120 Minutes”.
The Love and Rockets tribute album, like the others in the series, features a bunch of really great covers including some that are pretty inventive. Like the others, it features some covers that are kind of weird. Like the others, it features a lot of bands that I’ve never heard of before. This is one of those bands. While there are some really great covers on this tribute, this one is my favourite. I say that partly because “Motorcycle” is perhaps my favourite Love and Rockets song, but also because this version is really good.
This is that song:
I love that this is a bit lower than the original song and it seems to roar more than the original. At least in the bass guitar and drums. Somehow, in the guitar at least, it’s brighter than the original. So in a weird way, it’s simultaneously heavier and lighter than the original. For the most part, they haven’t done anything crazy with their interpretation of the song, and a lot of times, that’s a good way to go. This cover about 15 seconds longer than the original. Their coda is a bit more drawn out, a bit noisier, and a bit more chaotic than the original. I love it.
On Love and Rockets, the mean, heavy, roaring “Motorcycle” bleeds right into the next album track “I Feel Speed”, which is its very quiet companion piece. Bysts also does a cover of “I Feel Speed”, and it appears on the tribute album, but it’s several songs later in that track listing.
You can get Welcome Tomorrow: Love and Rockets in Another View via Bandcamp by naming your own price here. The whole thing is really worth checking out, but today’s song really is my favourite of the lot.
this is that song 
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