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Our Griffins covers Strand of Oaks "Last To Swim" for #CoverClub - A special brand of Philly covers

You would think for Cover Club, a series based on covers, that it might be heavily influenced with what might be popular with viewers.  However, that's the least of the considerations for the amazingly respectful Philadelphia bands doing these Philly-centric covers, celebrating their scene.  Some choices are born from days shared on the road, like Joe Fletcher with Toy Soldiers or Aaron Brown covering Allison Polans/Paper Trees.  There are instances from days shared in the studio, such as Kevin Killen covering Ben Arnold.  In some cases, the songs chosen are based simply on mutual love of Ween shared between Root Down In The Shadow and the cover artists including Brian Strouse & Vanessa Winters or The Fleeting Ends.

For today's session, the path to the cover started as a fan catching shows.  Alex Luquet of Our Griffins told Root Down In The Shadow all the details: 

"The first time I saw Strand of Oaks was two years ago at Union Transfer with The Tallest Man on Earth.  At the time, Strand of Oaks was a duo with Chris Ward on drums.  I had never heard of him prior to that show, but I spent the rest of that summer with Pope Kildragon on heavy rotation. Later that Fall, is when I learned that he had some history in the Lehigh Valley and still played some DIY shows there.

For Cover Club, I thought a Strand of Oaks song would be a nice fit since they're from the Lehigh Valley too.  I gave DJ [Brown] a tour of the album before deciding on a song.  DJ picked "Last To Swim" before the song was even over, which was such a "oh yeah, duh" moment for me. The aesthetic and content of the song seemed to click right away."


Some of you lucky fans in the audience at the TLA, a few weeks ago, got to see the "Last To Swim" cover live when Our Griffins opened for Kishi Bashi.  For those who weren't as lucky, here we are back at Nomad Recording Studio with Rob Swift recording the track and Bob Sweeney directing the video, presenting the Our Griffins take on "Last To Swim" by Strand of Oaks.


Cover Club | Our Griffins "Last to Swim" (Strand of Oaks)


Check out the original from the Strand of Oaks album Pope Killdragon:



THIS WEEK:

Check out Our Griffins this Friday at Bourbon & Branch opening for Former Belle


Strand of Oaks, releases their brand new album Heal on Dead Oceans Records this Tuesday!  If you're a member and RSVP quickly, you can see them at the Free At Noon at World Cafe Live on Friday June 27th!

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