Burning Sister Premiere Mudhoney Cover “When Tomorrow Hits”
Denver’s Burning Sister are releasing their new single “When Tomorrow Hits” this Friday, June 9. Technically, it’s a Mudhoney cover, but the Colorado trio who released their debut album, Mile High Downer Rock (review here), in 2022, are more loyal to the Spacemen 3 version taken from 1991’s Recurring, slowing down and fleshing out with echo and shoegazing atmospherics the rawer take of the original original from Mudhoney‘s 1989 self-titled. To say both versions inform Burning Sister‘s take is redundant — it’s the same frickin’ song, that’s what a cover is — but the breadth that “When Tomorrow Hits” fosters is a preface to the band’s upcoming EP, Get Your Head Right, which will be out later this year, and in that it is a herald of expansive vibe to come.
They didn’t write it, so I wouldn’t expect “When Tomorrow Hits” to necessarily define the other tracks on Get Your Head Right, but they build it up from silence to full-volume with patience and mellow-at-first groove, part addled shoegaze à la Dead Meadow, especially once the vocals start, but still held to the structure beneath in its linear movement to the payoff that starts right around 3:10. With the languid flow intact, Burning Sister roll into that volume swell of up and down undulations and give “When Tomorrow Hits” the push it deserves, making it their own across a hypnotic four and a half minutes that tell as much about Burning Sister‘s own influences — what they mean by ‘downer rock,’ for example — and the take on heavy they’re aiming toward. I look forward to hearing “When Tomorrow Hits” in the context of the rest of Get Your Head Right, but it seems like that in-between, pre-grunge moment circa 1988-1991, where ’80s punk and noise was starting to fill out its bottom end and hit with slower tempos, is a definite factor in the makeup of their sound. Noted.
There’s also a personal connection, as bassist/vocalist/synthesist Steve Miller explains in the quote below. I have yet to hear a solid release date for the EP, but frankly, the album’s not that old — the Bandcamp player is down there, you’ll see it — and in thinking about the song in relation to the full-length preceding, the cover adds some reach to what Mile High Downer Rock showed without actually departing in mood. And by mood, I mean downerism and heft.
With the hope of more to come near the EP’s arrival, enjoy “When Tomorrow Hits”:
Burning Sister, “When Tomorrow Hits” track premiere
Steve from Burning Sister on “When Tomorrow Hits”:
“When Tomorrow Hits” by Mudhoney is a late-’80s downer rock classic and the song is just as impactful today as when it came out in 1989. Then Spacemen 3 come around a couple of years later with their final album and make what I consider to be one of the most definitive cover tunes ever—they managed to capture the gravity and essence of the original track, but also successfully make it their own. If we get even halfway there, we’re stoked. This song is dedicated to my friend, Aaron, who passed away in 2011. He introduced me to Spacemen 3 and was with me when I bought my first bass in a pawn shop in Detroit. I can remember many of our conversations about music, particularly about “When Tomorrow Hits,” as if it was yesterday. This one’s for him.
The first single from the band’s upcoming EP Get Your Head Right, out later in 2023.
A powerful cover of Mudhoney’s classic song When Tomorrow Hits that breathes new life and meaning into the track.
Released independently on June 9th. Tracked/Mixed/Mastered by Austin at All Aces Studios.
Steve Miller – bass, synth, vox
Nathan Rorabaugh – guitars
Alison Salutz – drums
