Horse Feathers are a band from Portland, Oregon who play some very beautiful folk music. Their latest release, a 7" vinyl, finds the band covering a Nirvana classic, "Drain You", from the Nevermind album. The story goes that the band chose to play the song live at a show in their hometown as their finale. Rumour has it, people were talking about it for days. The band quickly returned to the studio to attempt to recapture the magic of the live performance so that they could share it with more people. Anyone familiar with the original Nirvana version of this song knows what a rocker it is. Now in the hands of Horse Feathers, the song is stripped right down to its most basic roots. Gone is the raw sound and grunginess of its predecessor. Using blends of guitar, banjo, violins and cellos, Horse Feathers make the song their own. Lyrics are clear and sung softly rather than via the raging raspiness of Kurt Cobain. Horse Feathers have completely turned the song upside down... and it's nice! Without distortion, it shows just how well Kurt Cobain could pen a pop song. On the flip side, we get a new original track called "Bonnet Of Briars" which is equally nice. It was a good choice of song to pair with the cover as they are very similar in sound and structure. "Bonnet Of Briars" almost has a Sufjan Stevens feel to it with the way it is orchestrated. This single is a nice addition to the band's discography and shows they are not afraid to take a chance on a song. Horse Feathers' pace has picked up and at three albums into their career they show no signs of slowing down.
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