The Grifters – “Covered With Flies”

Veteran Memphis eccentrics The Grifters, who recorded an impressive collection of albums and EPs in the ‘90s, are playing a select few shows in the coming months to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their breakout release Crappin’ You Negative.

For me, the Grifters hit their creative stride two years later with Ain’t My Lookout, the first of two albums they released on Sub Pop. I was lucky enough to direct the video for the song “Last Man Alive”, but the track I love even more is “Covered With Flies”, which opens the record.

The original recording of “Covered With Flies” included a great guitar solo (starting at 1:19) that closely echoed the vocal melody of the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”. This was 1996, when Michael Jackson owned the Beatles’ catalog and was notorious for pursuing all trespassers, no matter how witty their intentions. So the track had to be remixed with the guitar solo run backward and distorted, leaving only the last four notes or so recognizable from the original.

The song’s core weirdness endures.

See the reunited Grifters:

9/25: Gonerfest, Memphis
11/7: Glasslands, NYC
11/8: Mercury Lounge, NYC