Exclusive Premiere: Still + Storm Turn Nirvana’s ‘Very Ape’ into an Ethereal Dream

Nirvana's "Very Ape" (from 1993's In Utero) is 116 seconds of distorted guitars, post-New Wave swagger and Kurt Cobain at his most indecipherable. Even Cobain himself once said he didn't know what the song is about. 

But in the hands of Chicago-based experimental duo Still + Storm, the song is stretched out into a vast, twinkling ballad that's as powerful as it is delicate.

Still + Storm is the project of husband and wife Rachel Raymond and Dave Raymond (of Hidden Hospitals and Damiera), and they recently recorded their second EP, Break Away, with producer J. Hall (As Cities Burn, House of Heroes). The Raymonds played their first shows together in February and they're gearing up for the EP release in late March.

So as the duo are still at the start of their creative collaboration, it's only fitting they decided to cover a song that takes them back to their musical beginnings. "As a teenager, Nirvana struck a nerve and inspired me to begin playing guitar," Rachel Raymond told us. "'Very Ape' is powerful, and an acoustic version would be too convenient. Our homage is haunting, dream-like and just as pissed."

Diffuser is proud to premiere the video for Still + Storm's homage, which was shot in one take by director Chris Strong and, as you'll see, the visuals help turn the song into a hazy, shimmering daydream.