At the heart of "Alibi," Imaginary People's gorgeously pensive new album, sits a striking cover of Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper." It covers so often right on the edge of being ornamental or derivative, bolsters the entire record's emotional architecture. Imaginary People of New York have never been content to play it straight, and on their third full-length release, "Alibi," they drive straight into the haze of America's cultural divides.
"State Trooper," initially a raw howl of desperation on Springsteen's Nebraska, turns into something more menacing and cinematic in theirs. It is no longer the agonized drive of one man down a lonely highway. It is as if the entire country is behind the wheel, lost, disillusioned, and about to break down. Frontman Dylan Von Wagner's haunted clarity reflects the bruised underbelly of the American psyche. There's no half-hearted attempt to modernize Springsteen's minimalist template with hollow gloss. Instead, Imaginary People further strips it with skeletal textures, spooky synths, and sawed-off reverb that amplifies the unease. It's art rock that reads like a ghost story, spectral and otherworldly but rooted in emotional truth. Produced by Phil Weinrobe and mixed by Eli Crews, "State Trooper" effortlessly fits among the rest of Alibi's murky beauty.
The record grapples with disconnection, identity, and the surreal chaos of modern life. And this cover feels like a moment of reckoning, a breath held too long, a question with no answer. This version refuses to romanticize or unpick heroism, which is existential, bare-bones, and frightening. And that is precisely why it works. They are living the darkness through a contemporary lens in a world where the boundaries between fiction, memory, and reality have disappeared. Imaginary People's "State Trooper" provides honesty in a world that is coming apart. And that's more than enough.
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