Turn Around

It came to my attention a few days ago that Alan Myers, the drummer of Devo passed away recently. It reminded me of the Devo song Turn Around. There is also a cover version by Nirvana. I thought it would be timely so I decided to do this blog post about it.

Turn around was the B side to the 1980 single Whip It. Nirvana’s cover was included on the 1992 rarities collection Incesticide.

Devo:

Nirvana:

The Devo version has a pretty recognizable 80s new wave sound.  They’re using synth and what not. The guitar has a distinct 80s, and the drums share that. Despite that it doesn’t really sound dated.  Or at least if it does it sounds dated in a good way.

Nirvana really applied their bands sound to the song. Kurt is really good at making cool feedback noises with his guitar, and there’s a bit of that. As you’d expect Dave Grohl’s drumming is solid. Their version really sounds like what you’d expect from the 90s alternative sound.

Both versions sound pretty similar despite all the differences, if that makes sense. The Nirvana cover is really good, but I do like the Devo version better. It’s got that “Booooo” synth sound after the intro and between the verses. That’s my favorite part of the song.