By Andy Cook has proven better than most at transmogrifying the sonic tropes of that 2000s indie rock sound. His delightful 2020 album I’LL BE FINE is a hodgepodge of gripping guitar tunes that would’ve delighted the New York scene circa 2002—treat yourself to one of the best sleepwalking ballads of last year while you’re here.
This Friday (7/23) Cook will release a new split, courtesy of Good Eye Records, fittingly including a cover of The Strokes eternal radio classic “Last Nite.” Both the cover and the new track, “First Time,” are twinkly, sedated closing time tracks that capture the homespun energy of his recently released double EP, STUFF I MADE AT HOME WHILE OTHER PEOPLE MADE STUFF AT HOME AND THE WORLD WAS FALLING APART BUT WE’RE PUTTING IT BACK TOGETHER.
While the “Last Nite” cover turns the energy of the original inward, a simple but effective strum along that sees Cook zig where Albert Hammond Jr. zagged—as Cook describes it, “a sort of ‘what if a karaoke Roy Orbison dropped in on a Strokes recording session?’” “First Time” compliments the cover with a woozy, blissed out synthesizer that lathers up the hazy lead guitar tone, the muted drumming, and Cook’s last call vocals. “‘First Time’ is perhaps my favorite song of the tracks I’ve recorded and mixed at home,” Cook says. “It’s not specific to any one, more of how connections with people sometimes appear out of nowhere, disappear out of the blue, and who knows what the future may bring next. I hope it’s not too melancholic of a subject, I guess it’s more just an observation of my own experience in life so far.”
Both “Last Nite” and “First Time” will be available via Good Eye Records tomorrow (7/23)! You can hear both early below!
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