CIRCLES Self-release Cover of Beastie Boys' Cover of Sly & The Family Stones' "Time for Livin'" (French Melodic Punk)
CIRCLES is a Nantes, France-based Punk/Hardcore band founded in 2017, who, as NO ECHO once explained it, is "a new French combo firmly rooted in the Revolution Summer-era sound of 1985." CIRCLES current line-up consists of members Antoine Boisset, Guillaume Martin, Julien Normand, Mathias Peronne & Guillaume Salort and are, seemingly, aligned with Coretex, Unity Worldwide & Swell Creek Records. CIRCLES make a very unique brand of Hardcore/Melodic Punk, which harkens back to Dischord Records' 1980-90 output, such as Dag Nasty, Embrace, Fugazi, Minor Threat, and Rites of Spring. CIRCLES' disography currently includes a 2017 demo (fittingly titled Demo 2017) and a 2019 EP entitled Resonate. Now, CIRCLES have effectively returned with a new self-released single, which, actually, duals as a cover. It's a surprisingly spot-on rendition of the Beastie Boys' "Time for Livin'" from their 1992 album, Check Your Head. However, it appears as though CIRCLES' 2020 cover is, actually, a cover of a cover because Beastie Boys' Mario C.-produced rendition is, in fact, a cover of "Time for Livin'" from Sly & The Family Stones' 1974 Epic/CBS Records album, Small Talk, as well as music origibally composed by Frontline.
CIRCLES' version of "Time for livin'" was only accompanied by this brief description on Bandcamp, Beastie Boys cover recorded on 10/17/20. Released October 18, 2020. Recorded and mixed in practice room by CIRCLES, (no God) no master, sorry! Cover photo by Sonic Johnn" upon its release this past weekend. So, we decided to reach out to an email address we had Saved for CIRCLES and member Guillaume Salort reach back out to us with the slightly more lengthy description you now see below. CIRCLES' "Time for livin'" is now available to purchase on a Name-Your-Price basis on their Bandcamp page. We hear they're currently in their practic space actively working on an undisclosed future release, as well, so stay tuned! Beastie Boys recently made headlines, as the officially licensed their first song, "Sabotage," to be featured in a TV ad in support of The Biden/Harris campaign.
Well, Saturday, we were tracking new songs, since all we have left to do with this Pandemic is to write, and we had a bit of time left after the session; so, we decided to record this song we [used] to cover live from time to time. Since, we have no skills at all in recording/mixing, it was the perfect song for a dirty, raw, D.I.Y. recording. We all love Beastie Boys and it's one of my all-time favorite [bands] and a personal gate to my love for Hardcore and I think that the few Hardcore songs [they] recorded are some of the best Hardcore songs ever writen; so much energy, groove, and personality and that sound!!! So, in the end, we were pretty satisfied with how it turned out, so we decided to release it, since we can't play it live in these strange times!"
- Guillaume Salort (@circlespunx)