Swervedriver, "Reflections" (Dangerbird)

I love it when British rock groups cover Motown songs. Oftentimes, English artists bring a new slant to ultra-familiar tunes that makes you appreciate them in unexpected ways. For example, check out Japan's transmutation of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "I Second That Emotion" into a sleek, electro-glam moper, Rod Stewart's blowing out of the Temptations' "(I Know) I'm Losing You," Soft Cell's synth-pop remake of the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go?" and the Slits' punk-dub reinvention of Marvin Gaye's (via Norman Whitfield-Barrett Strong) "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." So when I saw UK shoegaze mavericks Swervedriver were taking a shot at the Diana Ross and company's sumptuous soul hit "Reflections," I was eager to hear the results. Reader, Swervedriver do not disappoint.

What they do on "Reflections"—yet another golden nugget written by the genius hitmakers Holland-Dozier-Holland circa 1967—is laze it up in their trademark morosely majestic fashion. Adam Franklin's voice is a thousand kilometers away from Ms. Ross's creamy wistfulness, but his lugubrious delivery and timbre add much pathos to an already poignant number. The melody to the lines "After all the nights I sat alone and wept / Just a handful of promises are all that's left of loving you" seems tailor-made for Franklin's downcast mode. In the track's last minute, Swervedriver ladle on the spacey guitar FX and launch the heartache-y song into the heavens. Check it out after the jump.

Swervedriver perform Sunday, November 3 at Columbia City Theater with Milly.