Some Girls Are Better Than Others

The Smiths Project is a blog started by Janice Whaley, a mother with a full-time job who decided to pay homage to the band that changed her life by covering every Smiths song in order within a whole year; now THAT, is a new year’s resolution.

However this Smiths crusade would not be easy, ever for a determined single mother; I should know, my mother had three of us and she barely had time to teach us the basics of singing in time Abba (to little success). But the proof is in the pudding, Janice has managed to produce a sound so uniquely different from her greatest inspiration and admittedly; I’m hooked.

The hardest part of covering or recreating the sound of The Smiths is that it is impossible to get anywhere near Morrissey's uncomprimisable voice as well as Marr's musical composition and jangle guitar. This is why even though I love the music of The Cribs (pre and post Marr joining them), I am not particularly fond on the live covers of The Smiths as you cannot have Marr without Morrissey when playing their music. This is not based on principle, I am not that ignorant to music; it just doesn’t sound complete.

Janice Whaley on the other hand has produced her own vocal arrangement and drum beats to provide the backing to her haunting singing that creates The Smiths in her own imagery, which for me is not only how one should cover The Smiths but for any piece of music that an artist wishes to cover. Janice's sound is familiar to a Smithised Enya, especially evident in her take on Hand In Glove and This Charming Man. The songs have a contradictory warming melancholy feel which is only achieved by the time consuming process of layering track after track of acoustic arrangements which takes her 20-30 hours per-song; completed with devastating effect.

It is no surprise that her efforts are gaining notice internationally with The Guardian writing an article on the Smiths devotee and even Simon Goddard, author of The Smiths: The Severed Alliance and Mozipedia saying "Once it's over you shall officially be appointed Saint Janice of Smithdom."; not a bad title coming from the man who literally wrote the book.

I wish Janice all the best in her quest to complete her Smiths resolution before the year is up, but even if time goes against her; we can all appreciate the determination and beautiful musical works of a woman who decided to express her gratitude to the band which changed her life.