Clem Snide (Eef Barzelay) Does: Journey

My later high school days and early college had the often-heard Journey song in the background. Growing up in Southern California and living those later school years in the O.C. I had a friend name Michael D. (a trust fund kid), who looked just like Steve Perry, minus the talent, fame, and tons of cash. I went swimming with him once by Newport Beach and almost drowned. A rip-tide caught me and I was at my wit’s end in the deep murky depths. A surfer dude came by and I waved for rescue. I grasped the end of his board and went to shore. Thankful! He thought I was drunk, but I was merely helpless, hopeless and finally saved.

Eef Barzelay, the driving force behind Clem Snide, created these Journey covers earlier this summer. Not knowing what to expect from covers of some of the most overplayed songs of many a youth, I was unexpectedly blown away by what he’d created.

Clem Snide (Journey) – Any Way You Want It mp3

In the spring of 2010 Eef Barzelay and his band Clem Snide were invited to take part in the Onion AV Club’s undercover series. The song they chose to do was Journey’s 1983 power ballad “Faithfully”. Stripping the original of its bombast and opting instead for a soft spoken and tender solo uke performance proved to be a winning formula and was quite well received. This inspired AV Club editor and long time Clem Snide friend Josh Model to suggest exploring this approach further for a possible EP. After a very successful Kickstarter campaign Clem Snide’s Journey is now available digitally and as a limited edition vinyl.