How the covers on Petty Theft adhere to Tom Petty's ethos
Mark C. Austin
No one's ever accussed Petty of being a pretty boy
If Tom Petty is hallowed enough to play the Super Bowl halftime show and inspire “Tom Petty is dead” websites, then he’s due for a halfway decent tribute album. Enter Petty Theft, a Petty covers record featuring 14 Chicago-based bands riffing on everything from the Florida rocker's biggest hits, like "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and "I Won't Back Down," to less-known Petty gems like "Shadow Of A Doubt (A Complex Kid)." As with any tribute album, it's fun to listen to modern acts attempt to redefine (or totally butcher) another artist's songs, but it's just as rewarding to pinpoint what each band has gleaned from the original source. With Tight Phantomz, The Saps, and others celebrating the release of Petty Theft at The Hideout on Saturday, The A.V. Club gave the record a spin to see what wrinkles these groups threw into Petty’s tunes, and also analyze how faithful they stayed to his core philosophies.
Tight Phantomz, “Don’t Do Me Like That”
Slowing the track down to a mellow jam, party rockers Tight Phantomz convert the 1979 hit off Damn The Torpedoes from a pop standard to a communal happy-hour anthem. Where an overambitious band may have sped the tune to a frenzied pace, the Phantomz simply chill, turning the chorus’ titular line into lighthearted banter rather than some uptight warning.
Faithful to the Tom Petty ethos: Obey the organ. Anchoring the Phantomz's messy sing-alongs and wailing guitar solo is the trusty organ, providing the texture that has since transformed rockers around the world from “a bunch of jagoffs messing around” to “lovable bar band.” Petty understood the power of those pipes—it’s inconspicuously prevalent in most of his early hits.
The Saps, “American Girl”
The Saps sloppily tear through the oft-covered “American Girl” with loving devotion to its source—seemingly everyone pitches in with the vocals, hollering with drunken abandon. That said, credit the band for injecting a little vitality, especially lead singer Dan Lastick’s throaty howl during the bridge, a scream that these days would cripple Petty’s rusty, tar-ridden vocal chords for weeks.
Faithful to the Tom Petty ethos: Simplicity is timeless. The Saps are well-advised not to tamper with Petty’s effortless songwriting. A 14-year-old with two guitar lessons could have written this track: The signature riff is one chord repeated, and it’s unforgettable prose is just “Oh yeah / All right / Take it easy, baby / Make it last all night.” And yet, it’s arguably Petty’s most celebrated tune.
B1g T1me, “Don’t Come Around Here No More”
The fellas in Tom Waits cover band B1g T1me have found a niche interpreting non-Waits songs through the aesthetic of their raspy-throated hero. Here the band strips Petty’s 1985 hit “Don’t Come Around Here No More” of all its pop-friendly qualities and replaces them with dissonant chords and the vocal stylings of a blood-thirsty lunatic. B1g T1me lead singer Zebulun Barnow’s growls “don’t come around here no more” as if he were not just Tom Waits but also the Crypt Keeper—it's creepy, haunting, and weirdly enjoyable.
Faithful to the Tom Petty ethos: Good songwriting transcends genres. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” was co-written by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, marking The Heartbreakers' first foray into new wave (and into that nightmarish Alice's Adventures In Wonderland-based video). While the song seems an antithesis to Petty’s everyman style of rock, clever songwriting makes the song work. When B1g T1me takes the song into Waits' maniacally jazzy territory, the same principle applies.
Penthouse Sweets, “Anything That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll”
This straight-up rendition of an early Heartbreakers favorite pulls no punches—power-pop group Penthouse Sweets start swinging with a three-guitar attack that could be an updated, cleaner version of Petty's own tune.
Faithful to the Tom Petty ethos: The most kickass rock 'n' roll songs are about how kickass rock 'n' roll is. Drawing on the same themes of Billy Joel’s “It's Still Rock And Roll To Me” and Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock And Roll,” “Anything That’s Rock ’N’ Roll” has a decidedly pro-rock agenda that prevents any bizarre reinvention. Credit Penthouse Sweets for not turning the tune into, say, a Michael Bolton easy-listening ballad, which must’ve been mighty tempting.
