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Buffalo Killers – “Stand Back and Take a Good Look (The Nerves Cover)” (audio) (Premiere)

In paying tribute to the extensive catalogue of the classic rock 'n' roll label Alive Naturalsound, the Ohio group Buffalo Killers take on a tune by an under-the-radar '70s power pop outfit.

Rock & Roll Is A Beautiful Thing, indeed. As a part of this year’s Record Store Day, the Alive Naturalsound label will release a limited colored vinyl under that name, which includes 21 tracks of previously unreleased material, original album cuts, and cover songs. The artists represented include the Black Keys, Radio Moscow, T-Model Ford, the Bloodhounds, and as you can hear exclusively below, Buffalo Killers.

That Ohio rock group — whose second Alive Naturalsound outing, 2008’s Let it Ride, was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys — has offered up a cover of the Nerves’ “Stand Back and Take a Good Look” for this 2LP collection. In doing so, the band highlights their presence amongst a fine roster of blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and psych outfits, all the while paying tribute to a classic band.

Zach Gabbard tells PopMatters, “Recording the fantastic ‘Stand Back and Take a Good Look’ cover, penned by Jack Lee, was a no-brainer. We really wanted to do something out of the Alive catalog to pay tribute to the label and the Nerves. The song came really naturally to us and felt like it could have been one of our own.”

Gabbard also speaks to his relationship with Alive Naturalsound: “Patrick [Boissel] and Suzy [Shaw] are running a label like no one else. They are true lovers of music. They believe in their artists. I’ve received emails telling me how proud they are of us. It’s that kind of support that makes all the difference.

“They are second to none in terms of loyalty and growing their artists. I recently produced a record for Handsome Jack and my brother is releasing a solo record this month — both on the Alive imprint.

“On the flip side, I once had a label tell me that the best thing we could do when the record came out was to die in a car crash, but these days I get Christmas cookies from Suzy every year. I couldn’t be luckier.”

Rock & Roll Is A Beautiful Thing is a limited edition title that is being released on Record Store Day, 18 April, via Alive Naturalsound.

View the artwork to Rock & Roll Is A Beautiful Thing below. The artist responsible for this cover is William Stout, whose CV includes covers for the infamous ’70s Trademark of Quality bootleg record label, movie posters such as Rock ‘n’ Roll High School featuring the Ramones, production design for movies (Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, The Mist, etc), and some acclaimed paleontological art. The artwork is currently on display at the Forest Lawn Glendale Museum in Glendale, CA, for the Revolutions 2: ­The Art of Music exhibit.