Two Man Band

April 1, 2010 8:43 AM

Recommend some two-piece music groups (guitar + drums preferred). Examples: The Black Keys, The White Stripes, An Horse, etc... Goal is to find songs to cover with only 2 people.

A buddy and I are thinking of doing some open-mic-night covers at a local tavern. Just two of us (me on guitar/vox, him on drums), so I'd like to find some stuff we could cover without totally rearranging for a two-piece. We already do some Black Keys & White Stripes stuff - stuff in this style would be ideal.

Bonus points for stuff from bigger bands that could easily be converted to 2-piece, or stuff that you've covered well this way.

Will consider whatever, but indie/blues-rock/alt stuff is probably preferred. Acoustic isn't out of the question, but we're not doing a Dashboard Confessional set or anything =)

Thanks!

posted by sprocket87 to media & arts (43 answers total)

The wiki page on Rock Music Duos may be helpful.
posted by alligatorman at 8:47 AM on April 1, 2010

Hall and Oates?
posted by Hanuman1960 at 8:48 AM on April 1, 2010

The Kills.
posted by Mountain Goatse at 8:48 AM on April 1, 2010

The Like Young
posted by griphus at 8:48 AM on April 1, 2010

Local H is a two man rock band.
posted by sanka at 8:49 AM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

I love me some Wheepies.
posted by Pineapplicious at 8:49 AM on April 1, 2010

The first time I saw Melissa Ferrick she was accompanied only by a drummer.

Orbital is two guys. So is Leftfield. Guitar covers of their tracks would be funny.
posted by mkb at 8:52 AM on April 1, 2010

Death From Above 1979.
posted by clcapps at 8:52 AM on April 1, 2010

They Might Be Giants started out as a two-man band, but they also relied heavily on drum machines in those days.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:53 AM on April 1, 2010

If you two are both insanely good, you could try to cover some Hella.
posted by saladin at 8:53 AM on April 1, 2010

Less recognizable, but tres fun: Ruins.
posted by googly at 8:56 AM on April 1, 2010

The Spinanes were a two-piece with guitar & drum.
posted by peep at 8:58 AM on April 1, 2010

Blood Red Shoes is an alt-rock guitar and drum duo.
posted by serathen at 8:58 AM on April 1, 2010

The Beatles - "Yer Blues" or "Helter Skelter"

Spoon - "Believing Is Art"

Jet - "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Shame and Fortune"

Hot Hot Heat - "No Not Now" or "Talk to Me, Dance with Me"

None of these are just two people, but they wouldn't require much rearranging.
posted by Jaltcoh at 9:02 AM on April 1, 2010

Marine girls.
posted by jockc at 9:03 AM on April 1, 2010

It's all about Local H.
posted by sinfony at 9:08 AM on April 1, 2010

Flat Duo Jets
posted by newmoistness at 9:11 AM on April 1, 2010

The Black Diamond Heavies
posted by ghharr at 9:13 AM on April 1, 2010 [2 favorites]

What you want is House of Freaks. I saw them live once (opened up for Midnight Oil back in the early 90s) and I'll never forget that show. Went out and bought the album the very next day.
posted by Otis at 9:14 AM on April 1, 2010 [2 favorites]

De straaljagers
zZz
posted by charles kaapjes at 9:16 AM on April 1, 2010

The Evens (Iam MacKaye's new-ish band) is a two-piece.

Having been in a duo band (guitar/drum), I can say that Social Distortion translates well. Their bassist wasn't that great anyway.
posted by General Malaise at 9:17 AM on April 1, 2010

While not exactly ROCK, maybe, before their success gussied up all their arrangements in the studio, the Carpenters performed as a drums/keyboards duo.
posted by umberto at 9:19 AM on April 1, 2010

• Japandroids
• No Age
posted by polyester.lumberjack at 9:19 AM on April 1, 2010

I love The Pack A.D.. Just guitar and a drum and they fit perfectly into my grooveshark shuffle with White Stripes and Black Keys.
posted by mochapickle at 9:22 AM on April 1, 2010

Turin Brakes
posted by fire&wings at 9:42 AM on April 1, 2010

Two Gallants
posted by TheWaves at 9:44 AM on April 1, 2010

Buzz Deluxe!
posted by peagood at 10:01 AM on April 1, 2010

Lightning Bolt

Warning: may be difficult to cover.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:04 AM on April 1, 2010

The Great Big Mulp beat me in mentioning Lightning Bolt. They are drums and bass guitar. And yeah, good luck covering any of their songs (Gibson uses a non-standard tuning for his bass, the drumming is pretty crazy, and the lyrics are usually unintelligible).
posted by burnmp3s at 10:06 AM on April 1, 2010

dexter & sara romweber as the dex romweber duo, dex with flat duo jets; bob log iii's old band doo rag; usa is a monster, the moaners, d.q.e., mommy & daddy; ... if i think of more after work, i'll add them.

have fun!
posted by msconduct at 10:07 AM on April 1, 2010

Mates of State!
posted by quarterframer at 10:21 AM on April 1, 2010

Wye Oak. They did an NPR Tiny Desk Concert recently that I can't stop watching, here.
posted by aiglet at 10:29 AM on April 1, 2010

Thanks for the tips so far, I'll try to mark some of these.

Any specific song suggestions at this point? Small-time/local two-man band suggestions, while appreciated, are hard to translate into good cover songs without knowing their library.
posted by sprocket87 at 10:41 AM on April 1, 2010

The Ting Tings
posted by eau79 at 10:43 AM on April 1, 2010

Crazy side story: I was listening to Y-Rock on my phone (Internet radio) during my lunch break today and heard this REALLY familiar 90s rock song that I used to LOVE (chorus: "and you don't just get it, keep it copasetic...") but I never knew what it was called. Then I get back and check this thread, see the Local H suggestion, check their Wiki page for their most popular singles, and listen to "Bound For the Floor" to see what it's like. WHADDYA KNOW.

Frikkin crazy coincidence....

(Oh, and I WILL play this song :))
posted by sprocket87 at 10:52 AM on April 1, 2010

The Vacant Lots might do- kind of a weird bluesy Velvet Underground feel. "Days Upon the Mountain" and "Let Me Out" might be nice covers, "Let Me Out" in particular if you're looking for something down-tempo to fill out your set.
posted by GodricVT at 11:57 AM on April 1, 2010

Kings of Convenience and Turin Breaks. Both are two man guitar bands. They're both acoustic, though, so some rearranging might be in order.
posted by daniel_charms at 12:52 PM on April 1, 2010

Quasi
posted by talkingmuffin at 1:47 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Y-Rock? Philly area? The Gay Blades play bars there sometimes. Catchy tunes, I especially like Hey She Say.
posted by WeekendJen at 1:48 PM on April 1, 2010

@WeekendJen - I'm not in/around/from Philly, no (Dayton, OH) - I just tune into to Y-rock online sometimes since my favorite, formerly local 'net station (WOXY) recently went off the air :(
posted by sprocket87 at 1:51 PM on April 1, 2010

The Dresden Dolls (piano + drums)
posted by threeants at 3:03 PM on April 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Helio Sequence
posted by Afroblanco at 9:26 PM on April 1, 2010

In the raw-as-hell blues genre, there's Elmo Williams and Hezekiah Early. Then there's my two-man band (guitar and walking drums): Medicine Bone.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:12 AM on April 3, 2010