It’s that time again, boys and girls- after a month or so of digging, I present to you the latest batch of cover songs that stand out above the rest. Along the way, I was reminded of exactly why 311 should never be let near instruments or microphones ever again (their take on The Cure’s Lovesong), and was forced to ask the question: who the fuck told Atreyu it was a good idea to cover You Give Love A Bad Name? You don’t cover Bon Jovi, man. Even if you’re not a screamy little pile of dogshit. It’s not ironic, it’s not hip. Just… don’t.

But I digress. Here’s the jams, kids. Turn ‘em up.

Yesterday Johnny delivered something we had been planning to do for awhile: A covers mixtape. It’s a daunting task, picking 10 tracks or so out of the hundreds of great covers there are out there, and I’m sure there will be many many more to come. But there were some crucial ones that I felt absolutely should not be back-burnered. So here’s a follow-up, eleven of my personal favorites.

A “best covers” mixtape sounded like a lot of fun until it dawned on me that there are literally hundreds of covers out there that would qualify for a slot on this list. The sheer mass of contenders was overwhelming, from Cream’s one-upping take on Crossroads to Led Zeppelin’s equally classic Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, to Mötley Crüe’s Smokin’ In The Boys Room or The White Stripes’ Death Letter. Then you’ve got Tricky’s spin on Public Enemy’s Black Steel, or Johnny Cash’s overhyped Hurt (which topped a lot of “All-Time Best Covers” lists, strangely) …the options are almost endless.

Happy Fourth of July, kids. In honor of what the occasion was originally meant to stand for, we’ve compiled a few tracks that have something to do with the holiday at hand. Either that, or the word “America” is somewhere in the song. Well, maybe not even that. Fuck it, here’s some music.

Don’t blow any limbs off tonight.

The tracks on this mix tell a story I’m sure you all recognize: Love. True. Love.

I’m not going to give you the track by track review of what each song is saying, because true love and the way it is expressed in various artforms is best interpreted by each individual. I hope you’ll be able to follow the story. I will, though, tell you why each song has special meaning to me.