This week, American pop-punk band American Hi-Fi released a cover of “Steppin’ Out” by Joe Jackson. The single follows up the band’s 2016 album American Hi-Fi Acoustic and is the first in a string of covers that will be released this year via Rude Records. The lengthy statement about the new cover and upcoming releases from vocalist Stacy Jones can be read below.
“We recorded these songs before the world shut down. We chose them because this is the music that we grew up on. The songs that came through the muffled speakers in the backseat of the family car, or in my case, blasted unremitting, through boomboxes on the streets of Brixton on my walk to piano lessons. We chose them because these songs made us feel something deeply, they resonated in a way that as young kids, we couldn’t fully appreciate. And now as adults with children of our own, we realize the importance of that visceral feeling. That feeling of dropping the needle on a record, and being transported through your headphones to a secret place that only you and a few close friends had access to. These are the artists that made us want to pick up drum sticks, plug in a Jazzmaster, and make a fucking racket with our best friends until the neighborhood shut us down. And that tenet still rings true today. American Hi-Fi has always been a family affair. A brotherhood. Now, more than ever, I appreciate the value of family, of music, of nostalgia, of coming together and sharing the joy of a song that can transport us, even for a moment. I hope these songs strike a chord with you. And to be clear, I realize that our scrappy little rock band covering some of the greatest songs of all time isn’t going to change the world… but I hope that when you drop the needle on this record, you close your eyes and find yourself transported. From a world of fear and unease, of division and disharmony, even for just a moment. And when you open your eyes, and the world opens up again, you can walk back into it with a smile on your face and a song in your heart, even if we didn’t write ’em.”
