Wye Oak Kills Danzig's "Mother"

The Baltimore duo Wye Oak is one of this writer's favorite new bands of the past few years, thanks to sterling songcraft and the smoky, gorgeous voice of vocalist/guitarist Jenn Wasner. So it shouldn't be too surprising that when they covered Danzig's "Mother" for the AV Club's "Undercover" series, they absolutely nailed it, with Wasner's delivery giving the track just the right amount of menace. "Mother" has become something of a new standard, and with good reason; it's ominous and gurgly and, you know, fun to sing along with, especially if you keep in the freak-out at the end. A couple of other versions of the track, after the jump.

During Sleater-Kinney's run of farewell shows in 2005, they broke out a cover of the track; this recording was from a show in Seattle:

On the very opposite end of the spectrum is the version put forth by the Christian rock band Anberlin, who somehow manage to make the song wussy:

40 lashes with a bag of kitty litter for these guys!

Finally, here is a live take on the song by the man himself from the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin in 2009. Fun fact about this particular Danzig set: It ended with a concertgoer running onstage and pouring what she said were the ashes of a dead friend all over the place--honoring, she claimed, her pal's last wishes. (I swear to God this happened.)