I don’t know what credibility I individually have, but believe me when I say that I am not just saying this: Main Drag’s “All My Friends” cover is better than the original. And, as you and me and all our friends know, the original was pretty fucking great, an instant classic that James Murphy himself realized was a little too good for LCD Soundsystem, which is why he poached it out to all his friends in hopes that one of them could turn out the definitive version. None of them did. Franz Ferdinand owes the song an apology.

I don’t know if this is the ultimate version of “All My Friends”—the universe will create more covers of it—but I do know that it is the ultimate one so far. What the Main Drag have done here is sift the other attempts out until all that remains is the unabashed emotion. Then they take that simple two-chord (or something) slow-motion cityscape and trick it out with fluttering violins, better drums, and guitar chords ricocheting and buzzsawing between all the cavernous sentiment, and then they deliver the lyrics with an actual voice that doesn’t sound like it’s trying to fuck you all the time (cough, Murphy), a strong voice unafraid to quiver a little bit, sounding in spots heroically like Leonardo from the Ninja Turtles, but imagine that but good. Then imagine that it closes with all the voice-cracked singalong bluster of the original but that that’s electrified by a staccato air-guitar bliss-out that proves why these dudes have day jobs at Harmonix. When it’s over you feel thunderclaps of beauty shivering down your spine—just like the original, only (this time) (like I’m trying to say and you’ll soon find out) better. I will say it again: when I feel like a seven-minute hyper-nostalgic paean to life’s entropic virility, and occasionally I do, I will in the future ditch James Murphy’s percolating steam engine for this version, recorded exclusively for Cokemachineglow’s 2007 Fantasy Covers Podcast.

Yes, motherfuckers—again. Again we have assembled all our friends to cover both indie hallmarks and hits wrenched from the pop stratosphere. Or, in the case of Hood Internet, ([all of the above + a bunch more + a blender] X liquefy) / (hot funk). Or, in the case of Roommate, made Fall Out Boy sound like Burial. Again we are here to soundtrack that 3 a.m. conversation after your holiday party—again we have amassed these artists to blow your friends’ minds. Again we will score a top ten hit in Japan. Again you will crash our server.

So, listen to this mp3—a subdued, embryonic form of the track. Tell all your friends. And we’ll see you next week.

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