What do Post Malone, The Grateful Dead, and Vampire Weekend have in common? Well, not much. But in a new session on BBC Radio 1‘s Live Lounge, Vampire Weekend did their best to bring the worlds of all three artists together.
For their second of two songs on the session, Vampire Weekend offered up a rendition of “Sunflower”—not the “Sunflower” that appears their forthcoming album, Father of the Bride, but rather the hit single of the same name by Post Malone and Swae Lee from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack.
At roughly 30 seconds into the track, yet another notable “Sunflower” rears its head: the recognizable guitar riff from the Grateful Dead‘s “China Cat Sunflower”. Later in the song, more guitar lines flirt with “China Cat Sunflower”, though not as explicitly as the lick in the intro.
Though Vampire Weekend comes from more punk/indie/new wave roots, their newer material has drifted farther toward the psychedelic sonics of bands like the Grateful Dead. Frontman Ezra Koenig has never been shy about his love for the jams. On multiple occasions in recent months, Koenig has mentioned his affinity for Twiddle, even inviting the band’s guitarist, Mihali Savoulidis, to join him on his radio show, Time Crisis.
You can watch Vampire Weekend’s cover of Post Malone’s “Sunflower” featuring a clever nod to the Grateful Dead’s “China Cat Sunflower” below:
Vampire Weekend – “Sunflower” [Post Malone cover]
[Video: BBCRadio1VEVO]
You can also listen to the original studio versions of Post Malone’s “Sunflower”, Vampire Weekend’s own “Sunflower”, and the Grateful Dead’s “China Cat Sunflower” below:
Post Malone, Swae Lee – “Sunflower”
[Video: Post Malone]
Vampire Weekend ft. Steve Lace – “Sunflower”
[Video: Vampire Weekend]
Grateful Dead – “China Cat Sunflower”
[Video: Grateful Dead]
[H/T Spin]