I’m always doing deep-dives on Spotify in hopes of discovering bands completely off my radar and one of my favorites is VOWWS, the Los Angeles-based Australian duo heavily inspired by Quentin Tarantino and horror movie scores. The result is a unique sound they call “Death-Pop”.
While VOWWS – comprised of singer-guitarist Matt James and singer-keyboardist Rizz – is currently prepping a new EP (and subsequential full-length album), the band has released a surprising cover to tide fans over.
Below is a video for their cover of the Britney Spears hit single “Womanizer”, which has been given the DIY VOWWS treatment that I love so much.
“We covered Britney! Here’s our version of ‘Womanizer.’ We wanted to make it interesting & cover a song that came from somewhere completely different to us,” said the band in a statement on Bandcamp.
“It was a challenge to ourselves to reinterpret something with top-level pop production and give it a scrappy, DIY personality. If Britney’s version is a superstar heavyweight champion, ours is a bare-knuckled, chain-smoking, heavy drinking street fighter.”
For those unacquainted, VOWWS has been backed by Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and was on tour with Poppy before the pandemic hit. They’re an extremely do-it-yourself band that produces, directs and edits their own music videos(!) that nearly all carry that grim lo-fi VHS aesthetic many of us love.
Here’s the cover of “Womanizer” alongside several other videos in hopes of getting a few of you hooked as well.