Breakups come with a unique soundtrack, and in the video for their cover of “Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell,” Greg Hoy & The Boys are giving that soundtrack a feature-worthy visual compliment. Hoy doesn’t have a problem when it comes to putting his emotions into stereophonic sound, especially when he’s got a guitar slung across his back, but this video presents us with his presence at a different speed than some might be prepared for. His introspection is transcendent of the fact that this is a cover song, and his standard is again raised by the potency of his output with The Boys.
If it’s possible to be both dirty and elegant with a rock arrangement, this band has figured out how to do it in “Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell.” All of the ZZ Top grit from the original is still intact, but it’s partnered with an attention to detail that feels more postmodern and tethered to contemporary indie rock conceptualism than it is anything in the old school. The vocal is never passive, but its bottom-end is; this contrast is like a reflection of the narrative in the form of an instrumental arrangement, reminding us that even the most well-matched of elements can sometimes divert in a twisted harmony with one another.
Watch the video for “Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell” below
I’ve heard Greg Hoy belt out some special vocals over the years, but this is some of his more soulful singing I’ve ever caught on master tape. He’s pouring his heart into the microphone, and it’s evident how invested he is in the verses just by gauging his volume over the rest of the band (and the difference doesn’t feel producer-generated). This is a sample of what it would be like to hear them play live, and it’s making me want to experience their stage show all the sooner than I already did.
Although I indeed came into this review with a lot of high expectations for what Greg Hoy & The Boys were going to do with a ZZ Top cover of this style, I cannot say I was expecting to be as impressed with their one of a kind treatment of “Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell.” This isn’t like any other rock cover I’ve listened to in the past year, and while it was penned by another, it feels like a true encapsulation of Greg Hoy’s abilities in this single.
