Tom Verlaine 4: Cover

Somehow Tom Verlaine still had a record deal, so right on schedule he went back in the studio with his usual sidemen and recorded another album. Cover is right in line with his other solo albums, but can be easily told apart by the thick level of reverb all over it, and the use of a drum machine on about half. Amazingly, six different recording studios on two continents were required to put it together.

It’s always good to start with the single, even though the catchy “Five Miles Of You” only made it to 45 (and 12-inch) in the UK. We hear a little Echo & The Bunnymen in the vocals for the mildly funky “Travelling”, but Tom did it first. (We could’ve sworn we heard a David Byrne-style vocal elsewhere on the album, but damned if we can hear it now.) “O Foolish Heart” sports a tinny synth that overpowers the mix, burying the guitar solo. “Lindy-Lu” has lots of intertwining guitars for a pop song the Cars might have enjoyed, and the same goes for “Let Go The Mansion”, another one-man band track.

“Dissolve/Reveal” is a little more intricate in its programming, and oddly seems to foreshadow Brian Eno’s ‘90s pop work as well as the guitar sound Paul Simon used throughout Graceland. Bill Laswell is credited on bass for “Miss Emily”, another decent rocker, but good luck picking him out of the mix. “Rotation” is fairly robotic for a track with real bass and drums, but while it takes a while to get going—past the barking dog and recitation at the top—“Swim” is practically a modern doo-wop song without the harmonies, and kinda sweet.

With those very ‘80s resonances, one might think Cover would have attracted more buyers. It didn’t. But while he’s not very much of a guitar hero here, at least it can still be discovered. (A later rerelease on CD included the B-side “Your Finest Hour” and an extended mix of “Five Miles Of You” as bonus tracks.)

Tom Verlaine Cover (1984)—3