Hear Beach Slang's James Alex Do a Gentle Cover of Big Star's "Thirteen" as Quiet Slang

For someone with an extremely well-documented love of LOUD GUITARS and AMPLIFIERS TURNED ALL THE WAY UP, Beach Slang's James Alex sure has a soft spot for the quieter side of rock and roll. On his new stripped down EP as Quiet Slang, We Were Babies & We Were Dirtbags, he lays down gentler versions of two of his songs, "Future Mixtape for the Art Kids" and "Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas," before switching over to two covers, "Androgynous" by The Replacements and "Thirteen" by Big Star. Both songs have gotten some pretty stellar cover treatment recently, with "Androgynous" getting a Miley Cyrus backyard session with Laura Jane Grace and Joan Jett, and The Menzingers tackling "Thirteen" on a covers EP earier this year.

The Slang version is a fitting homage to Alex Chilton's original, swapping out the acoustic guitar for piano and cello to create a swirling, lullaby-style take on it. "Thirteen" was the second Big Star song Alex says he ever heard (the first being "September Gurls"). "I couldn't define it or categorize it or even come close to figuring it out," he says. "It was just this haunting, weirdo, alien pop. And it walloped me. Some stuff is like that, you know?"

Hear one BS covering another BS below. We Were Babies & We Were Dirtbags is out on October 13 from Polyvinyl and you can pre-order it here. Beach Slang is hitting the road soon and you can hear them, loudly, at the dates below.

10/20 - Asbury Park, NJ @ House of Independents %^
10/21 - Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry %^
10/22 - Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall %^
10/23 - West Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern %^
10/24 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade - Hell %^
10/26 - Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum @ Pre-Fest *
10/28 - Gainesville, FL @ Bo Diddley Plaza @ The Fest *
10/28 - Gainesville, FL @ Civic Media Center @ The Fest (James Alex Solo)
10/30 - Birmingham, AL @ Saturn $%
10/31 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement East $%
11/01 - Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar $%
11/02 - Newport, KY @ The Southgate House Revival $%
11/03 - DeKalb, IL @ The House Cafe $%
11/04 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club $&
11/05 - Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room $&
11/07 - Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre $&
11/08 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge $&
11/10 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux $&
11/11 - Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey $&
11/12 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre $&
11/14 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall $
11/16 - Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex $
11/17 - Las Vegas, NV @ Emerge Music and Impact Conference
11/18 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge $=
11/20 - Austin, TX @ Barracuda $=
11/21 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall $=
11/22 - Dallas, TX @ Curtain Club $=
11/24 - St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room $=
11/25 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge $=
11/26 - Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop $+
11/27 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Cattivo $+
11/28 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat $+
11/29 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza $+
11/30 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair $+
12/01 - Bethlehem, PA @ ArtsQuest - Blast Furnace Room $+
12/02 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of The Living Arts $+

* w/ Against Me!
$ w/ Dave Hause & The Mermaid
% w/ Pet Symmetry
^ w/ Positive No
& w/ Hannah Racer
= w/ See Through Dresses
+ w/ The Homeless Gospel Choir