Soccer Mommy Covers Pavement’s ‘Gold Soundz’ for ‘Like a Version’

Soccer Mommy (a.k.a. Sophie Allison) has shared a stellar rendition of Pavement‘s “Gold Soundz” as part of her recent appearance on Like a Version, the long-running covers segment from Australian radio station triple j.

Recorded during Allison’s recent Australian tour in June, the two-song set began with a standard original, which in this case was “Abigail,” the final single from Soccer Mommy’s 2024 album Evergreen.

The cover portion of the set saw Allison and her band turn their attention to 1994, sharing a bittersweet version of “Gold Soundz” – the second single from Pavement’s second LP, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.

“I chose this song ’cause I love Pavement,” Allison said in a post-performance interview. “I’m a huge Pavement fan. I’ve actually covered another Pavement song before, but I just always really liked this one and I thought it fit my voice nicely.

“I think it’s just really catchy. It gets stuck in your head,” she added. “It has a nice melody and nice guitar parts. I really like the jangliness of the guitars in this song. I think that’s what drew me to it.”

Indeed, Allison has certainly shown her love of Pavement in the past. In 2022, Soccer Mommy was invited to perform at Pavements 1933 to 2022, the indie rock outfit’s New York City pop-up museum, where she shared covers of “Here,” “Gold Soundz,” and “Spit on a Stranger.”

The following year, Soccer Mommy’s Karaoke Night EP featured covers of Taylor Swift, Slowdive, Sheryl Crow, and R.E.M., while opening with a recorded rendition of Pavement’s “Here.”

“I do love Pavement,” Allison continued. “I really, really love Pavement. I first  discovered Pavement when I was in high school, and that’s kind of when I got really into them, and especially Slanted and Enchanted was my favorite album. But I’ve just always really liked them. 

“It was one of those bands that I got into in high school and never grew out of, and particularly there’s a little bit of a renaissance right now with them kind of touring again and doing stuff together. So I think that’s why it’s fresh in the mind.”

Pavement have been sporadically active since their 2022 reunion, with a run of international tour dates taking place since. More recently, they’ve also been the subject of the aptly-titled Pavements, an experimental semi-fictional biopic directed by Alex Ross Perry which was officially released in June.

For his part, Perry has expressed his love of Soccer Mommy’s nascent cover, commenting on triple j’s Instagram post of the track, “I extremely support this.”

Having first launched in 2004, the Like a Version series has gone from being a near-impromptu acoustic affair to featuring larger studio productions. Numerous artists have taken part over the past two decades, with the likes of Billie Eilish, Childish Gambino, Arctic Monkeys, and more reinventing classic tracks in the process.

View Soccer Mommy’s cover of Pavement’s ‘Gold Soundz’ below.