Texas psychedelic-folk collective Leon III has returned with a surprising new cover of Jane’s Addiction‘s “Summertime Rolls”. Taken from the alt-rock forefathers’ 1988 breakthrough album, Nothing’s Shocking, the track becomes an exploratory behemoth in the hands of Leon III ringleaders Andy Stepanian and Mason Brent.
While the original Jane’s Addiction version has a proclivity to meander, Leon III’s retelling of “Summertime Rolls” embarks down new paths of sonic exploration. The group’s dense instrumentation combined with Stepanian’s distant vocals sound like they could be drawn from the group’s 2021 sophomore LP, Fly Migrator, as the droning eight-minute cover is reminiscent of that album’s stand-out title track.
Leon III’s decision to record a cover of “Summertime Rolls” came about on a whim as the band enjoyed a bit of downtime while in Charlotte, NC.
“I had revisited Jane’s Addiction’s first few albums a bunch in recent months,” Stepanian said, “I kept coming back to ‘Summertime Rolls’ and thinking about how it could be a Leon III song. It rocks but there’s a looseness to it too that I like.”
Check out Leon III’s cover of “Summertime Rolls” below or on your preferred streaming platform. The band is due to perform on September 30th at Wildwood Revival in Arnoldsville, GA. For tickets head here.
Leon III – “Summertime Rolls” (Jane’s Addiction)