As we've previously discussed, covers of Iggy And The Stooges' classic "Search And Destroy" aren't exactly rare--but two in one week is still a bit surprising. Following directly on the heels of the League Of Space Pirates cover that hit the internet earlier this week, Black Girls have made their own version of the track available for free download--and it's for a good cause! As a tie-in to the release of Tomorrow City, a crime novel set in Shanghai, China by Kirk Kjeldsen, the Black Girls version of "Search And Destroy" has been made available for download from Kjeldsen's website. For every 500 downloads the song receives, eye care and a year's worth of schooling will be provided for a disadvantaged Chinese child through Stepping Stones China, a not-for-profit charitable organization based in Hong Kong.
In spite of his current residence in Shanghai, Kjeldsen is an assistant professor in the cinema program at VCU, where he previously taught Black Girls members Michael Bryant and Stephen Farris. The music of the Stooges is referenced throughout Tomorrow City, and one of the novel's themes is reinvention. Therefore, since Black Girls, who spent the summer in the studio finishing their follow-up to 2012's Hell Dragon, are the type of band that you'd never expect to do a Stooges cover, their decision to tackle "Search And Destroy" was, according to Kjeldsen's website, "in the spirit of reinvention." If anything, though, their version reinvents the Stooges classic, slowing down the drums and turning the song into a laid-back, funky jam. The riffing is heavier than anything we've previously heard from Black Girls, and Drew Gillihan's vocal shows a whole new side of the frontman, but the final version is much closer to the traditional Black Girls sound than the peanut butter-throwing wildness of Iggy And The Stooges.
"Search And Destroy" is available for a limited time as a free download from Kirk Kjeldsen's website. To grab a copy for yourself, click here.