Yesterday, we learned that Merge Records band Hospitality recently tackled the Steely Dan classic "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" for the A.V. Club's "Undercover" series. While they maintained the smooth harmonies of the original, they added a bit of Krautrock motorik that slices SD's inherent cheese right out. And, despite the fact that it's their first-ever cover song, they look like they're having a lot of fun.

Coincidentally, I've been thinking a lot lately about classic rock covers that improve on the original. Read on for ten songs that add their own flair for a better result than the classic track.

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Cream: A supergroup that doesn't suck.

What's the deal with supergroups? They're rarely as great as the sum of their parts, or able to overcome the ghosts of bands past. Even the most commercially successful all-star bands usually fail on a musical level. Can they simply not live up to the hype? Or, as The Guardian proposed in this 2009 article discussing the phenomenon, is the "stink of last-ditch careerism" to blame for their often disappointing results? Whatever the reason, there have only been a few supergroups worthy of the name since Eric Clapton formed Cream in 1966. Far more common are the utterly terrible results of collaboration gone awry.

Read on for the ten worst supergroups ever to stalk the earth.

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Duff McKagan is the founding bassist in Guns N' Roses and the leader of Seattle's Loaded. His column runs every Thursday on Reverb.

Ah, yes. The weather is getting good out there, just in time for one of America's favorite pastimes: the good ol' road trip.

Right, the gasoline is inexplicably more expensive in the West right now than just about anywhere else in the country. But that shouldn't stop you. Instead, make the best of it! Go out in a group. Nothing better than making plans with others whom you like to travel with.

In the Northwest, we have a ton of water, and no road-trip list would be good without a few excellent boat trips thrown in. With that in mind, here's my pick of 10 locales to point your compass this summer:

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Hey, Molly Hatchet, If you're staging a comeback, how about taking a hatchet to that hair?

We all have our guilty pleasures, whether it's the easy-listening rock sounds of The Eagles, the dated '80s pop-hop of Neneh Cherry, or the country cheese of Garth Brooks. But even with such a place in our heart, are any of these bands deserving of a place back on stage in a comeback tour?

While the criteria for what makes a bad band reunion varies from group to group, the following acts check off a least one box in the "hack" category. Whether it's the fast track to an easy buck, or a tour in support of their latest Greatest Hits release, these bands just won't stop injecting their brand of has-been tuneage into our lives.

Does the double-neck guitar count as one axe or two?

1. Let's talk The Eagles, who have been reuniting, breaking up, suing each other, and openly touring for fuckloads of cash since the '80s. With a hardly-hard hitting, yawn-inducing mellow rock style that inspired this popular Seinfeld vignette, the group has been taking a slow, easy ride to Has-Been City for decades.

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Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the most endearing figures in '60s and '70s folk pop music: Donovan Leitch is 65. Back in the day, Donovan palled around with the likes of Brian Jones, Joan Baez, and John Lennon; he was an original hippie who played a major role in popularizing psychedelic culture and did a ton of LSD that, let's be honest, probably helped him write some of his best, weirdest songs, like "Mellow Yellow" and "Season of the Witch." (In 1966, he also famously became the first major British celebrity to be arrested for marijuana possession). Just this year, Donovan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His enduring songs, many of which became Top 40 hits when they were first released, have been covered by a range of artists over the decades; in honor of his birthday, here are some of the best Donovan covers.

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Not a greatest hits album. Just a great album.

The primary problem with hits compilations - and there are many - is that a listener can wander for years under the impression that they possesses a well-rounded understanding of a band's catalog because they've heard the hits. That's not rockist snobbery, that's just the truth. I was at least 20 years old before I started exploring the Rolling Stones' non-hits catalog. Heck, the band's got so many hits, you feel like you've heard it all after you've downed "Brown Sugar," "Start Me Up," and "Satisfaction" for the bajillionth time. Only after I really absorbed the between-hit tracks on Let It Bleed and Beggars Banquet that I truly felt I'd begun to get what was great about the band.

That said, hits records are essential. They've been starting point for discovery for many of us who weren't there when the original records were released. And serve as a re-introduction for everyone else. They've also been responsible for reducing the public perception of bands to the sum of their most saccharine and radio-friendly. But, hey, that's for another time.

Here's a look at rock history's most essential hits compilations:

10. The Steve Miller Band, Greatest Hits: 1974 - 78: Don't get me wrong, I'd rather put something sharper than my elbow down my hearing canal than listen to "Swingtown." But this album is an essential part of discovering rock and roll for millions (both the picking up and putting down). Side note: I distinctly remember reading a list in The Rocket about the top albums owned by people who don't like music. This album was on it. I was incensed!

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Dog Shredder play the Shakedown in Bellingham May 12.

Bellingham is a perfect town-- not too big or too small, simultaneously scenic and close to natural beauty, and located in between two "cosmopolitan" cities should its residents ever want to ditch. Best of all, Bellingham has long possessed a rockin' music scene, in part because its position as a distinct market from Seattle and Vancouver means touring bands often play much smaller venues when they come through. The other constant in Bellingham's scene is the presence of Western Washington University, whose students keep the supply of bands fresh and make up a large part of the showgoing public.

"It's an interesting town because it has a cross-section of individuals, from blue-collar workers to college kids to older folks who retire there," says Hunter Motto, talent buyer at the Crocodile, who got his start booking at Western before becoming program director at the Mount Baker Theatre for three years. "As a result, the music is a weird amalgamation of a bunch of scenes happening at once."

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1. Lil B - "Motivation"
Let's start with the obvious one after last night's show (and last week's experiment). For all Lil B's unrelenting positivity, this song has him finding motivation in bitterness and darker feelings. That such wallowing is inevitable even for Lil B should make you feel better right off the bat. (See also: "I Hate Myself.")

The rest after the jump...

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Matthew Sweet plays Girlfriend in its entirety tonight and tomorrow at the Triple Door.

Matthew Sweet is in town tonight and tomorrow to play his 1991 power pop opus Girlfriend in its entirety at the Triple Door. This news excites me, because I am an unabashed power pop addict. In fact, it may be my favorite genre, mainly because of the guitars. AllMusic explains its origins as follows: "The musical sourcepoint for nearly all power-pop is The Beatles... [with their] distinctive harmony singing, strong melodic lines, unforgettable guitar riffs, [and] lyrics about boys and girls in love." Other progenitors include The Beach Boys, The Kinks, The Who, and The Byrds. With its roots in the '60s, power pop is one of rock's longest-running subgenres, and at its broadest points incorporates everyone from Weezer to Tom Petty.

Yesterday, Telekinesis' Michael Lerner called out a Pitchfork review that began
"the gods of power pop are perennially unkind." It noted that "Bios of the guys who've devoted entire careers to multi-tracked harmonies, anthemic choruses, and Pete Townshend windmills all seem to take the shape of rocketships cocked for the moon but fatefully, eternally stalled on the launch pad." (Lerner, who knows his way around a pop riff, tweeted "Now growing a beard, playing acoustic gtr. Because, the gods are perennially kind to bearded neo folk bands...")

But the Pitchfork reviewer may have a point.

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Yesterday we learned the sad news that Levon Helm, the great drummer and last surviving vocalist of The Band, is in the final stages of his decades-long battle with cancer. The statement, posted by his wife Sandy and daughter Amy on his website, asks for "prayers and love to him as he makes his way through this part of his journey. Thank you fans and music lovers who have made his life so filled with joy and celebration . . . he has loved nothing more than to play, to fill the room up with music, lay down the back beat, and make the people dance!"

Speaking Saturday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Band guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson asked for "love and prayers to my bandmate Levon Helm." The Band was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994.

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