When the Ramones wrote “I Wanna Be Sedated” it was because their lives were frantic searches for escape from the monotony of tour life. When Superhumanoids cover it, it becomes a lullaby of suburban boredom. It's easy, between the lethargic, muted beats, to imagine singer Sarah Chernoff lying on her bed, her parents downstairs in the living room watching Jay Leno. She opens up a small box and out flies a collection of inflated, spectral keyboard chords, all hovering near the ceiling and occasionally dropping on the bed next to her with a beep. As Chernoff sings the song, the innocence in her chalky soprano seems to distort slightly, and the song becomes more intense for a second, as if she had, in fact, taken a sedative, reclined on her bed, and closed her eyes to the tones swirling around her. The Ramones' tour joke turns a bit more serious, and it's a mysterious and lovely reinterpretation.
Superhumanoids, “I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones Cover)”
Los Angeles's Superhumanoids recorded this cover to celebrate their own upcoming tour experience opening for Balam Acab and Active Child, which will probably be decidedly more relaxed than a Ramones tour in 1977. Here are the dates:
