Brooklyn Indie Artists Cover the 90s on New Mason Jar Music Compilation

On Thursday, our friends at Mason Jar Music released the soundtrack to your Memorial Day weekend.

For the third year in a row, the Brooklyn-based music collective’s co-founders, Dan Knobler & Jon Seale, released a new volume of Decoration Day – a cover song series by Brooklyn artists that celebrates damn fine tunes of yesteryear (Sidenote: Memorial Day began as “Decoration Day” in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War). The series’ first volume held six tracks that spanned 200 years of American history. Last year’s compilation paid homage 1960s-era soul. This year, Knobler & Seale celebrate the era defined by Saved by the Bell, the Gameboy and my braces: the 1990s.

Eight tracks of solid gold 90s from the likes of Keenan O’Meara, Megan Lui, Daniel & Jaime Woods, Harvey Eyeballs, Michaela Anne, Flearoy and Twain. Of note are O’Meara’s cover of Smashing Pumkins’ legendary ballad, “1979,” and a rendition of Dwight Yokham’s “Ain’t That Lonely Yet” by our friend Michaela Anne.  I asked each of them for some thoughts on why they chose the song they did.

Here’s what Keenan said…

“I resonated with the song as a kid.  The guitar tone and Corgans voice captivated me. I sat around and waited for it to play on the radio so I could rip it to tape. Coming back to it as adult was a thrill as I discovered a deep lyrical beauty in the song. That said, it still brings me back to the bus stop with my brothers and sisters.” – Keenan O’Meara

And Michaela…

“When Dan from MJM asked me to represent the country side of the 90s for their Decoration Day, Volume 3 collection, I was naturally very excited since that was the music I grew up on. I was quite overwhelmed with possibilities since I probably know every song from The Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, etc. but the more I thought about that the more I figured that might be too predictable. Dwight Yoakam is one of my all-time favorite voices and Ain’t That Lonely Yet came out in the early 90s and although I didn’t learn it until a few years back, it still evokes the same 90s country nostalgia for me. It’s a song I could sing and/or listen to a million times and never get sick of so I thought it would be a great addition.” – Michaela Anne

Stream the new album below or download the trilogy here.