Florence and the Machine’s Green Day covers album
She is invariably, unquestionably herself in every situation she finds herself in. It’s little wonder that she got her management deal by cornering the manager she wanted in a nightclub bathroom and singing at her without even really introducing herself. I can absolutely believe that the front woman of Florence and the Machine would have done that, whatever she sounded like, even if she didn’t have the God-given pipes she’s blessed us with for the past two decades.
The key to her star power has been that mix of genuine kookiness and utter unmistakability that makes throwaway projects like this so wonderful and unforgettable. In 2007, Welch was a year into her work as Florence and the Machine and was already getting noticed for her artistry and startling singing voice. One of the people who took notice was Dev Hynes, freshly shorn from Test Icicles and about to take on the world in his first solo project, the alt-country outfit Lightspeed Champion.
Welch and Hynes worked together a lot in that year, guesting at each other’s gigs and writing together. However, what wouldn’t come out until three years later was the fact that they’d formed a band together. Sort of. Under the name Team Perfect, Hynes and Welch had recorded a few songs together in the bare bones of fashion. Hynes thrashing away at a (slightly) out-of-tune acoustic guitar and Welch singing into Hynes’ laptop. It was clearly a lark, however, and you can see this from their choice of material.These were not originals, they were covers. Specifically, Green Day covers. Even more specifically, from their 1997 album Nimrod.
How does this Green Day covers album suit Florence Welch?
This might sound strange on the surface as none of the music that Welch and Hynes have ever made have all that much to do with the Bay Area pop punk kings, but once you look a little deeper, it makes perfect sense. Both of them grew up as rock kids, Hynes in particular citing the Smashing Pumpkins 2000 “farewell” gig at Wembley Arena as the thing that made him want to become a musician. Nimrod was released when they would have been around 11 and 12, and thus, the absolute target audience for that album.
One can hear their passion for it in the sheer, slightly stoned glee with which they attack the songs. These are songs they’d grown up with for a decade before Florence was howling them out into Dev’s laptop, and the love they have for them is plainly audible. Even in all of Dev’s guitar fluffs and Flo’s occasional deviations from the key. Yet that’s just it. This is still built around the voice of Florence Welch, and no matter how much of a throwaway curio this is, one that should probably have stayed in their personal collection, her sheer star power is still evident.
Her slurring through ‘Hitchin’ A Ride’ and ‘Nice Guys Finish Last’ is genuinely like stumbling on a Caravaggio’s toilet door graffiti. The person themselves probably wouldn’t want to be associated with it, but to everyone else, it’s an absolute hidden gem. One worth seeking out, even simply for the sheer novelty of it all. Two people whose musical genius was becoming deeply apparent, throwing together a few Green Day songs for the fuck of it.
Our heroes really are a lot more like us than we think.
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