Rising punk act Winona Fighter shared their take on Violent Femmes’ “Blister In The Sun” out now via Rise Records, with front woman and multi instrumentalist Coco Kinnon explaining the inspiration came when they were talking about doing an acoustic variant of their record and since they love to honor those who have paved the way in everything they do, it was only natural to pay homage to the folk punk legends themselves.
Kinnon shares they are really stoked about this cover and getting a nod of approval from the band themselves made them all the more proud and excited, while Violent Femmes co founder and bassist Brian Ritchie adds he is thrilled to hear Winona Fighter’s reinterpretation of their eternal standard, proud when their music seeps into subsequent generations of musicians and listeners, loving Winona’s pithy approach that keeps much of the original energy while adding several novel details.
Ritchie praises Coco’s lead vocal for seeming true to Gordon’s blueprint until she substitutes attention getting high harmonies for the melody, noting the song was always androgynous and non gendered which is amplified in Winona Fighter’s take, and loving when after a relaxed pace for the bulk of the song, the band sends it into the stratosphere like a rocket ship at the very end by kicking ass and turning up the volume.
“Blister In The Sun” will be featured on the upcoming deluxe edition of the band’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘My Apologies To The Chef’ set to be released digitally on September 5th with limited edition vinyl available for pre order now, with the expanded album featuring acoustic versions of every song from the original record plus their cover of Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” and the recently released track “(Don’t Get) CLOSE,” proving Winona Fighter knows how to honor the past while carving out their own space in punk’s ever evolving landscape.