Casey Hess Does Siouxsie and the Banshees' "The Last Beat of My Heart"

So a couple weeks ago we promised a Covering Tracks exclusive from a member of Deep Ellum royalty. Delivering on that promise is Casey Hess, who was an integral part of the '90s Dallas music scene with Doosu and went on to melt faces with Toadies offshoot Burden Brothers. Hess...

By Dave Lane

March 13, 2012

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So a couple weeks ago we promised a Covering Tracks exclusive from a member of Deep Ellum royalty. Delivering on that promise is Casey Hess, who was an integral part of the '90s Dallas music scene with Doosu and went on to melt faces with Toadies offshoot Burden Brothers.

Hess is currently working on a solo record that promises to be decidedly less riff-heavy than his previous work and current band Descender. As he's been culling material for the project, a cover has been popping up in his live sets that Hess agreed to record for us.

"The Last Beat of My Heart" was the final single from Siouxsie and the Banshees' 1988 album Peepshow, a mournful ballad featuring Siouxsie Sioux's understated vocals, swelling strings and a lone accordion. Hess' version, self-recorded with mixing from David Castell, is nicely updated with churning guitars, subtle harmonies and a sneaky low end.

"The Last Beat of My Heart"

Really quite gorgeous. It might seem an unlikely cover, but as Hess explains, "I used to listen to Siouxsie and the Banshees when I was in middle school, messing with the guitar, reading Dragonlance novels and drawing pictures of naked women." Sounds like a perfect childhood.

Check out Hess doing his solo thing this Thursday at The Free Man. The show starts at 10 p.m. and there's no cover.

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