While talking about the importance of staying unpredictable as an artist, Rob Carlyle, front man for The Compulsions, was recently asked by Podcast Chit Chat about the band’s drastic reworkings of “Dead Flowers” by The Rolling Stones and “Dust N’ Bones” by Guns N’ Roses on the New York group’s newest full-length, Ferocious. Below is an excerpt of Rob’s chat with host, Bob Huhn.

Huhn: “And another way that you show your unpredictability is [with the covers on The Compulsions’ latest album, Ferocious]. One’s a Rolling Stones ‘Dead Flowers’ cover, and then you do a Guns N’ Roses ‘Dust N’ Bones’ cover. You just did your own take on them. They’re completely different from what you’d expect for a cover. And it shows some balls to do that because everyone thinks, ‘Oh, I know that song. But that’s not the way it goes.’ But it worked out well.”

Carlyle: “Yeah, yeah – and they were both challenges for different reasons. ‘Dead Flowers’ has been covered so many times and some of the covers are really good. So, to try and do your own thing with it, that definitely took some balls, like you said. And then very few people seem to cover Guns N’ Roses because they’re really good at doing the definitive version of their tracks. It’s hard to imagine, at least for me, their songs being done any other way. But ‘Dust N’ Bones’ definitely seemed a little more elastic to me. The lyrics are so, I keep using the word ‘creepy’ only because they’re talking about burying things in the backyard and stuff like that, so it seemed like doing a creepy, almost Tom Waits-version of that song made sense. And the other thing challenging about both those bands is that their fan bases are so diehard that if you dare to tread on that territory, you’d better deliver the goods. And from all the reviews that we’ve gotten and the feedback that I’ve gotten, I think we passed with flying colors.”

You can now hear the rest of the conversation here.

The Compulsions’ third album, ‘Ferocious’, was released on November 13, 2020. The 10-track release, which includes covers of “Dead Flowers” by The Rolling Stones and “Dust N’ Bones” by Guns N’ Roses, was met with instant critical acclaim, including “I Prefer Compulsions Versions Of Guns N’ Rose, Rolling StonesSongs” (Get Ready To ROCK!), “Izzy Stradlin, Gilby Clarke Fans Will Flat Out Love” (Sleaze Roxx), “Think Early ’70s Rolling Stones Transported To The Present Day” (Fear & Loathing) and “The Rock ’N’ Roll Record We Were Craving” (RPM Online), among many, many others.

Ferocious features front man Rob Carlyle expertly backed by a rogue’s gallery of highly formidable players: Brian Delaney (New York Dolls), Craig Dreyer (Warren Haynes, Keith Richards), Frank Ferrer (Guns N’ Roses), Alec Morton (Raging Slab), Hugh Pool (New York Blues Hall Of Fame), Nicki Richards (Madonna, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston), Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (Guns N’ Roses, Sons Of Apollo) and Earl Slick (David Bowie, John Lennon), among many notable others. Ferocious is available now on all digital platforms via Compulsions Records.

For regular updates on Rob Carlyle & The Compulsions, keep an eye on thecompulsionsnyc.com.