Sweet Cobra covered Songs: Ohia’s “I’ve Been Riding With The Ghost” (watch the video)

Gina Alexander

Chicago sludgy post-hardcore band Sweet Cobra are working on their first album in seven years, titled Threes, but first, they're releasing a cover of "I’ve Been Riding With The Ghost," a classic by the late Jason Molina, which he released on his 2003 Songs: Ohia album The Magnolia Electric Co. The cover was recorded by Shiner's Allen Epley (who also played synth on it) and his Life and Times bandmate Eric Abert, and mixed by Converge's Kurt Ballou. It also comes with a video created by Cloakroom's Bobby Markos.

"We had been working on some pre-production recordings for our new album with Allen Epley at the helm at his studio and decided to work on this cover to sort of break things up," Sweet Cobra's Jason Gagovski tells us. "I've always felt a deep connection to Jason Molina's music on a lot of different levels. Originally intended for a vinyl split with Cloakroom (they covered ‘Steve Albini's Blues’), at a certain point both bands just decided to get these covers out on Bandcamp instead of waiting for a vinyl release."

"I've been wanting to cover a Jason Molina song for a long time," he adds, "partly as an homage to my days in Bloomington, Indiana at the same time Molina was active there, and also because his music took on a timeless quality that has transcended into something much larger in the years since it was released."

The Songs: Ohia original is already kind of on the rocking side as far as Songs: Ohia goes, but Sweet Cobra's version is a little heavier and doomier, without losing the charm of the original. Check it out below.

Sweet Cobra are also playing their first indoor show in two years this Thursday (2/10) at The Empty Bottle in Chicago with Documa and BirdHands.