This track is a cover of Disorder by Joy Division. For those of us that do not bathe in codeine to dumb out the pain of an unforgiving world and are capable of enjoying life, this may well be the preferred version.
Somehow New York five-piece Been Stellar, have managed to keep the essential magnificence of the original tune, dig it out from the depths of post-punk oppression and force it to breathe with a vibrant life of its own. It therefore succeeds in a manner that all covers should.
The introductions of the respective tracks act as a comparison to typify the differences. The 1979 version trips over itself to add typical 80’s pounding drums preceding a the chunkiest of dark, dank, oppressive bass lines. These rumble on for 30 seconds before the lead guitar adds a superb tune that threatens, but ultimately fails, to be the essence of the track.
This aesthetic is reversed on this brilliant version as the oppression is deliberately removed. Within the initial three seconds an almost nonchalant Flying Nun style repetitive jangled riff replaces all that once was ‘booming and chunky’ to become the core of the sound that ultimately contains a stunning dynamism. The original coerced your attention with its malevolence whereas this one invites it in with a jangled welcome mat.
Of course I will not be popular for suggesting that this track is better than the original and old Joy Division fans may well feel like clambering out of the coffins they sleep in to seek justice upon such a musical atrocity.
But hey ho…there it is…this is better.
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