The Morning Pages Give Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” A Roots Rock Makeover

Brooklyn band The Morning Pages, whose debut album Rising Rain drops May 11, are no fools. They know that one of the best ways to get attention in this crowded industry is to cover a song no one could ever see coming. Travis did it first with Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time.” The Lemonheads took Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” for a spin, as did indie-rock outfit Clem Snide. And the Morning Pages have gone straight to the top, singling out Lady Gaga’s ubiquitous hit “Telephone.”

“A great song is a great song,” says band frontman Grant Maxwell, “and indie music doesn’t have to be all dissonant and obscure and depressing all the time and on the other hand pop music could stand to sound a lot more organic and musical. My thought was they maybe we could combine the depth of roots music with the visceral enjoyment and popular appeal of mainstream music and get the next revolution started….also, I just couldn’t get that song out of my head!”

Watch the old-timey video below.