SWMRS & Fidlar – “People” (The 1975 Cover)

At this point, it’s almost a given that each 1975 single is going to sound pretty different from the others. But when they truly kicked off the rollout of their long-teased A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships followup Notes On A Conditional Form with “People,” it still managed to raise some eyebrows. They had never recorded a song like this, all distortion and wails deep in the red, a bug-eyed Matty Healy performance turned into Marilyn Manson cosplay in the accompanying video. The 1975 are always a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it prospect, but “People” was particularly so.

Well, apparently the 1975 can count the California punk bands SWMRS and Fidlar amongst those who love it. Resulting in perhaps one of the more surprising covers we’ve heard in recent times, SWMRS and Fidlar have teamed up to offer up their own rendition of “People.” Every member of each band plays on the track, with their respective vocalists doing their own frenzied, distorted take on Healy’s batshit vocals.

Naturally, though the 1975’s original “People” is a stylistic outlier even in a catalog that is sort of built on stylistic outliers, it fits very comfortably in the wheelhouse of both SWMRS and Fidlar. The bands didn’t have to change much, they just sound like they’re having a bunch of fun bringing the 1975’s ripper into their own world. Check it out below.