Soccer Mommy nods to their influences with a new cover of Sheryl Crow’s 2002 smash “Soak Up The Sun.” The band’s single was released this week, in preparation for their run of tour dates with Maggie Rogers, which started the same day in Queens, NY.
The classic pop-rock track is a solid summer jam, encouraging listeners to make the most of their less-than-ideal situations by themselves, despite what others around them might think. On their cover, Soccer Mommy chooses to stay loyal to the original song’s structure, only choosing to replace the chintzy, dated intro with a brief atmospheric cloud of guitars. The cover was produced by Matt Cohn and the band themselves, which consists of vocalist and guitarist Sophie Allison, drummer Rollum Haas, bassist Nick Widener, guitarist Julian Powell, and synths from Rodrigo Avendano. Philly-based engineer Ryan Schwabe mastered the cover, and Cohn took on mixing.
The approach to the cover’s arrangement is more spacey and rock influenced. The original arrangement from Crow’s version felt more clean and tight, with crisp acoustic guitar fronting the mix and some slight twang in the choruses. Soccer Mommy’s cover reflects the direction that Allison has taken the band with the recent album Sometimes, Forever, which had many examples of pillowy reverb catching the instruments and filling out the cracks in songs such as “Shotgun” and “Feel It All The Time.” The garage-y guitars and synth layers on “Soak Up The Sun” form an ambience that sounds modern and full.
In an interview with The New York Times, Allison spoke about Crow; “She has a knack for saying something hard, but making it feel like she’s ready to acknowledge it and be cool with this hard acceptance.” Allison’s songwriting has been the driving force behind her band’s success since her early demos in 2015. Visit Soccer Mommy’s website for tickets to their 2023 tour with Maggie Rogers, which comes to The Mann Center in Philly this weekend, and stream “Soak Up The Sun” below.