I’ll just go ahead and put this out there: I have no idea who the New Division is. I know, via MySpace, that it’s “an indie rock/new wave band from Riverside, CA founded in 2005 by John Glenn Kunkel.” Also, the band takes its name from two of its main influences (New Order and Joy Division … get it?).

I can get past the gimmicky nature of the name. What’s stopping me is that this indie rock/new wave band from Riverside, CA founded in 2005 by John Glenn Kunkel has covered my favorite song from my favorite album of 2007, the National’s Boxer.

Truth is, it’s not a bad cover. Not at all. And I have to admire a band that is doing its part to spread the greatness of the National. The singer, perhaps this John Glenn Kunkel fellow, introduces the song by saying, “It’s a really, really good song. You should really start to listen to it more often. It’s quite amazing.” I’ll agree with that.

Then, in the back of my mind, I hear a little voice (probably my alter ego that wears skinny jeans) say, “Who does this band think it is, covering such a great song?” But, you know, of course it’s not going to be as good as the original. And, of course, the covering band probably knows that. So what I’m trying to say in this debate with myself is that, yes, I’m OK with this cover. It’s a sign of respect for a band that deserves tons of it.

• The New Division | Apartment Story (The National cover) (via Allan’s World Music)

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, Mobius Band is offering a free six-song EP of covers called Love Will Reign Supreme. I got particularly excited to see they covered the National’s Baby, We’ll Be Fine, a song, in my estimation, that is romantic in its vulnerable and contrite writing (“I don’t know how to do this / I’m so sorry for everything.”).

Mobius Band definitely gives the track an imaginative reworking, one that feels uplifting … like the clouds are parting from the original’s somber tone.

Tracklist for Love Will Reign Supreme:
1. Razor Love (Neil Young)
2. Baby We’ll Be Fine (The National)
3. True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston)
4. Mobius Band In A Green Cotton Sweater (Casiotone for the Painfully Alone)
5. I’ll Keep It With Mine (Bob Dylan)
6. Digital Love (Daft Punk)

Download individual songs or the album in a zip file (which includes cover art jpg) here.

• Mobius Band | Baby, We’ll Be Fine (The National cover)

If I could go back to the early and mid-90s, I’d probably make a point to pay more attention to Dinosaur Jr. Instead, I had my head buried in hip-hop – A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Digable Planets, etc. Of course, I don’t regret that path, but I feel I have no history, no sense of attachment to a band that inspired so much of what I listen to today. (And their drummer’s name is Murph. MURPH! Maybe we’re related.)

You can draw the logical conclusion that I also missed the boat on Sebadoh. So when I got the reissue of III last year, I knew it was a big deal, but I probably couldn’t appreciate it to its fullest extent.

And that’s a shame because I could have used a song like The Freed Pig all these years – its bitter, angry beauty. “Now you will be free / with no sick people tugging on your sleeve / Your big head has that more room to grow / A glory I will never know.” Yow. I often wonder if Lou Barlow ever brought this up with J. Mascis when Dinosaur Jr. reunited. “Hey, look, about that song … ”

Anyway, Cassettes Won’t Listen (aka Jason Drake), in conjunction with Music For Robots, is offering a free EP of ’90s covers called One Alternative, on which The Freed Pig is included.

I question whether such a great song needs to be covered/remade in this way, but I give CWL the benefit of the doubt because his remix of El-P’s Flyentology was aces.

Go download the EP here.

• Sebadoh | The Freed Pig
• Cassettes Won’t Listen | The Freed Pig (Sebadoh cover)