A.V. Undercover Explained

A.V. Undercover is an American live music web series created by The A.V. Club, distributed on their website. The series premiered on March 16, 2010,^[1] going into an extended hiatus after the 8th season in 2017. It was revived for a 9th season in June 2024.^[2]

The concept of the show is that each season, a list of 25 songs is compiled. Bands are then invited to choose a song to cover.^[3] Once a song has been played, it gets crossed off the list. The later a band comes on, the fewer songs they have to choose from. In the first season, The A.V. Club staff picked the songs.^[4] In the remaining seasons, readers of The A.V. Club voted for them.^[5] At the end of a season, there was an online vote for the favorite video.^[6]

In between season, there were mini seasons of Holiday Undercover (where each artist chose a song with a holiday theme)^{[7] [8]} and Summer Break,^[9] where artists covered "songs having to do with summer".^[10]

In 2010, NPR selected "Wye Oak Covers the Kinks" as one of "Five Great Cover Songs from 2010 (So Far)".^[11] It was a 2011 Honoree for a Webby.^[12]

All episodes have since been deleted from YouTube, with the exception of Season 2, Episode 18, in which They Might Be Giants sang Tubthumping, which is hosted on They Might Be Giants' YouTube channel.

The song that plays during the introduction is "Someone Has to Die" by Maritime.

Episodes

Season 9 (2024)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Dumenco . Simon . The Onion A.V. Club Rocks Out, Karaoke-Style, With a Little Help from Starbucks . AdAge . 7 February 2019.
2. Web site: Jackson . Josh . Help us choose the songs for A.V. Undercover season 9! . The A.V. Club . 11 June 2024.
3. Web site: Johnson . Steve . Undercover work . Chicago Tribune . 13 May 2010 . 7 February 2019.
4. Web site: Padgett . Ray . The Antlers Wish You Were Here . Cover Me . 15 June 2010 . 7 February 2019.
5. Web site: Modell . Josh . Undercover voting results . A.V. Club . 31 January 2011 . 7 February 2019.
6. Web site: Garneau . Eric . The A.V. Club Takes Us Undercover . Cover Me . 18 November 2010 . 7 February 2019.
7. Web site: Garneau . Eric . A.V. Club Undercover II: This Time, It's Seasonal . Cover Me . 19 November 2010 . 7 February 2019.
8. Web site: Undercover: The Pilot (Headlights cover XTC) and announcing Holiday Undercover! . A.V. Club . 17 November 2010 . 7 February 2019.
9. Web site: Modell . Josh . Introducing A.V. Undercover: Summer Break . A.V. Club . 7 July 2011 . 7 February 2019.
10. Web site: Padgett . Ray . Watch A.V. Undercover's Summer Spectacular . Cover Me . 7 February 2019.
11. Web site: Katzif . Mike . Five Great Cover Songs From 2010 (So Far) . npr.org . 15 February 2019.
12. Web site: Online Film & Video: Variety . webbyawards.com . 7 February 2019.