Just over a month ago, Minnesota-based musicians Kerry Alexander and Chris Hoge celebrated 10 years of their indie-pop debut as Bad Bad Hats, Psychic Reader. Not long afterward, the duo announced that they would be honoring that landmark later in the summer with a proper reissue of the LP that not only updates the cover art, but features a full bonus disc titled Psychic Readings that features a handful of covers of the album’s tracks courtesy of peers including Squirrel Flower, The Ophelias, The Front Bottoms, Ratboys, and Gully Boys.
Ahead of the package’s August 29 release date, today we’re getting an early listen to that latter release’s opening track: fellow Twin Cities rockers Hippo Campus’ experimental take on the airport-set breakup tune “Midway.” Their cover swaps the clean, glistening riffs and Alexander’s emotive vocals for something a bit less straightforward. “I [hoped that] when we handed it over to our friends in Hippo Campus that I would receive something that surprised me,” Alexander shares. “I was not disappointed. Inspired by the real dissolution of my first serious relationship (the ultimate goodbye taking place at Midway airport in Chicago), the original exudes a simmering sadness. Meanwhile, Hippo Campus’ excellent cover injects the song with a hectic apprehension.”
Alexander also expanded on the original song’s inception: “It was originally written with the repeating, ‘God, I could have kissed you’ as the chorus and ‘Midway between the end and the start / I cried like a baby, I tore you apart’ as a listless, fragile bridge. One night while I was strumming through the song, Chris poked his head into the doorway of our tiny apartment living room and said, ‘That should be the chorus,’ then went on his way. He was unfortunately right. The rest came fairly quickly. We demoed out the song at home, stumbling upon the reversed guitar moment and the central riff. In the studio, Brett Bullion helped us bring the aching emotion to the forefront. I feel a great sense of pride in ‘Midway’ and I’ve never tired of playing it live.”
Check out the cover below, and pre-order Psychic Reader (10th Anniversary Edition) here.
