Mattiel covers Beastie Boys and The Clash

Sharing not one, but two covers, Mattiel has unveiled her reworking of Beastie Boys’ ‘Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun’ and The Clash’s ‘Guns Of Brixton’.

Speaking on the tracks, recorded in lockdown (obvs), Mattiel and Jonah Swiller explain, “When you make art, it no longer belongs to you. We had this release scheduled for last week, and we’d been working on all the moving parts for a number of months. Both Beasties and The Clash are an integral part of each band member’s musical influences.

“After meeting Paul Simonon on the Jools Holland Show in 2018, we started playing Guns of Brixton upon our bassist Travis’s request. Our tour manager, Pete, had the Beastie Boys Book floating around the tour van last summer. We all started reading bits of history from their career and shared our collective interest in their story. Mattiel mentioned covering Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun from Paul’s Boutique and then we hashed out the details at sound check.

“In early March of this year, we decided to cut studio versions of both. It should go without saying that we do not condone gun violence. The timing of this release alongside a global awakening is purely coincidental, but undeniably strange. We chose to release them today in order to benefit bandcamp’s donation to the naacp defense fund. They have promised to donate 100% of their share in sales every Juneteenth from now on. We ask you to interpret these songs as you wish, and we thank Paul Simonon, The Clash, and The Beastie Boys for writing them.”

Have a listen below.