When George Michael announced he’d covered New Order’s “True Faith” a couple of weeks ago, I was really looking forward to hearing how he’d reworked the synthpop classic, being fans of both artists. By now, you’ve probably heard George’s vocoder-gone-wild, glacial-paced mess yourself, and if you haven’t, well, fair warning.

George recorded “True Faith” as a charity single to benefit Comic Relief UK, so it’s really too bad (and truly ironic) that his New Order cover comes off as a joke. His soulful voice should never subjected to such electronic knobbery, especially at his own hands. Even another listen or three (yeah, I had to) doesn’t reveal any deeper artistic aim at work, whatever George’s protests to the contrary might be.

We’ve been spared this mess in the U.S. thus far, but if it had been a worthy effort, I would have waited to give George’s take on “True Faith” space until it was available for download here. However, as it turns out, there is a recent New Order cover of some distinction that is worth sharing. It comes from Buffalo Tom, the ’90s alt-rockers best known for their 1993 #7 ode to onanism, “Sodajerk.”

After taking much of the early 2000s off, Buffalo Tom is back to the business of making music. Prior to the March release of Skins, their second studio album since returning from sabbatical, the Boston trio posted a free acoustic companion EP, Bones. That four-track set wraps with a cover of New Order’s “Age Of Consent,” from 1983’s Power, Corruption & Lies.

Like Frente’s 1994 cover of “Bizarre Love Triangle” (surprisingly unavailable for download) and Iron & Wine’s acoustic version of “Love Vigilantes,” Buffalo Tom’s “Age Of Consent” offers more good evidence that New Order covers are best when stripped down. Sorry, George. (Skip down to Track 4 in the player below to watch Buffalo Tom play “Age Of Consent” live.)

 

 

Free download of Buffalo Tom – “Age Of Consent” via the above widget.

In six-degrees-of-separation news, Iron & Wine recently covered George Michael’s “One More Try” for The Onion’s A.V. Club. Still hoping that the satirical newspaper/website will someday issue all of the various covers recorded by bands visiting its round studio.