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Download Thee Oh Sees’ Volatile Velvet Underground Cover ‘European Son’

“It’s always a little threatening to take on material I consider perfect as is,” says Thee Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer. “The only rule being, don’t fuck it up.” But in covering the Velvet Underground’s “European Son,” the “perfect material” in question, Dwyer and his San Francisco garage-punk crew never came close to fucking anything up at all — their faithful contribution to the forthcoming, Castle Face-helmed tribute Velvet Underground & Nico is every bit as volatile as the original. “I thought it was a great closer for that album,” he says of the song, coda to the legendary New York outfit’s 1967 debut LP. “I figured I could ride the noise-wave pretty far on that particular tune.” He definitely does. Hear it for the first time below.