This Is Our Jam: Black Tambourine, “What’s Your Game”

Without Black Tambourine we probably wouldn’t have Dum Dum Girls, Frankie Rose, Vivian Girls, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, and many others. With only a handful of songs, the indie pop band managed to perfect a sound somewhere between shoegaze and twee, and inspire countless others to follow in their footsteps. Now, the Slumberland legends are releasing their first newly recorded material since ‘91 — a collection of Ramones covers.

“What’s Your Game” is a slowed down, beautified version of The Ramones’ original, containing all the layered guitar and dreamy harmonies you’d expect from Black Tambourine. Backing vocals have been added by members of indie pop acolytes Dum Dum Girls, Honeymoon Diary, and Tiger Trap, but the addition is largely symbolic. In the end “What’s Your Game” feels appropriately small — a worthy addition to their catalog that proves their reunion to be more than welcome twenty years later.