Ducks Ltd have shared a new single from their album The Sincerest Form of Flattery, with a cover of Jesus & Mary Chain’s “Head On” featuring Illuminati Hotties. Each track of their new series will feature a new collaborator and friend of the band.

The track is a collaboration between both bands featuring the guitar tones and hooks of Ducks Ltd. and the backing vocals of Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties. The new cover halves the original’s run time, ramping up the fun while staying reverent to the indie rock greats.

Ducks Ltd’s Tom McGreevy on “Head On;”

I really like covers! If memory serves the first time we did one as a band was when Evan’s parents came to visit Toronto from Australia and we had a show while they were in town so we learned a song called “Before Too Long” by Australia’s poet laureate Paul Kelly (who for those who don’t know him is sort of like Australia’s Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen/Elvis Costello all rolled into one very beloved guy). We’ve kept doing them live, both sincerely (The Go-Between’s “That Way”) and as something of a goof (Tom Petty’s “American Girl”), ever since and every time we do one we feel like we learn something about songwriting and arranging that makes us better at making our own music. This project is kind of an extension of that exercise, and as a band who obviously wear our influences on our sleeve a bit, it’s a fun way to share some stuff we’re into.

The original “Head On” is total a classic, and the lyrics are just so brilliant in an understated kind of way, but I actually started thinking about covering it after listening to the Pixies’ cover of it on Trompe le Monde (which is the best Pixies album, don’t @ me). They really kick the shit out of it, in a totally different way than The Jesus and Mary Chain do, and it made me desperate for a chance to sing it, and also got me thinking about ways you could adapt the vibe of it to make it fit into our world a bit. Sarah Tudzin has an immense and powerful production/mixing mind and one of my favourite singing voices of anyone doing stuff right now, so we asked her if she’d be down to work on it with us and she helped us figure out how to make it work. Truly a high honour! She also persuaded us to record our guitars through actual amplifiers for the first time ever, rather than going straight into the box like we normally do which feels momentous! Amplifiers! Who knew!

Ducks Ltd 2022 Tour

Mar 22 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
Mar 24 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
Mar 23 – 27 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival
Mar 29 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater*
Mar 30 – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar*
Mar 31 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line*
Apr 1 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall*
Apr 2 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway*
Apr 3 – Indianapolis, IN @ Hi Fi*
Apr 6 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups*
Apr 7 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace*
Apr 8 – Montreal, ON @ Bar Le Ritz *
May 4 – London, UK @ Moth Club~
May 5 – Manchester, UK @ Yes~
May 6 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House~
May 9 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds~
May 10 – Southampton, UK @ The Joiners~
May 11 – Oxford, UK @ The Jericho Tavern~
May 14 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb For Bach~
May 15 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade~
May 16 – London, UK @ Moth Club~
May 18 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic~
May 19 – Brugge, BE @ Villa Bota
May 20 – Amsterdam, NL @ London Calling
May 22 – Luxembourg, LU @ Rotondes

Rescheduled UK Dates:

Sep 7 – Dublin, IE @ Workman’s Cellar
Sep 8 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
Sep 10 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Petes
Sep 11 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
Sep 13 – Manchester, UK @ YES
Sep 14 – Birmingham, UK @ Dark Horse
Sep 15 – London, UK @ Windmill Brixton
Sep 16 – Brighton, UK @ The Green Door Store
Sep 17 – Bristol, UK @ The Crofters Rights
Sep 20 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach

*with Nation of Language
~with Illuminati Hotties