Everyone has had this exchange conversation at some point in their lives, albeit with different words filling in the blanks:
"What would it sound like if (insert band here) covered (insert band here)?"
On Ben Folds's latest EP, "Super D," he inserts his name and The Darkness' opening with his own version of the British glam-metal superstars' hit "Get Your Hands Off My Woman."
It smokes.
In the same way that the Darkness is a throwback to Thin Lizzy, Folds experiments with a throwback of his own on "Super D." "Kalamazoo" begins with Folds's typical knack for making the listener understand how important each word he says is before slipping in some straight disco-era strings and drums. At its worst it's Donna Summer, but at it's best it's Billy Joel.
The timeless thing about Folds is that he can - at the exact same moment - evoke heartfelt emotion with his voice while he implores gyration with his piano. The best way to put it is to imagine Neve Campbell in "Party of Five," tears streaming, shaking it on the dance floor. It's intense, but able to be taken with a grain of salt in that her parents probably died in 95 percent of those episodes.
"Rent A Cop" hearkens back to the Ben Folds Five "Whatever and Ever Amen" days, complete with instrument solos to subtly show off his talent and ego; an ego which, while ever-present, is somehow digestible.
Folds closes the EP with a live version of Ray Charles's "Them That Got." In vintage Ben Folds fashion, he plays about two-thirds of the song, stops and - with perfect wit - says, "That's a Ray Charles song that I don't know the whole thing, but I like it. I'll learn the rest of it some day."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
