Beastie Boys No Sleep 'til Brooklyn (Virginia Leaves Cover)

This past weekend was the anniversary of MCA's death.  The well-loved and respected one third of the Beastie Boys was not only a pioneer within the world of hip-hop, but his influence stretched across the musical soundscape.  Along with his fun-loving compadres, the Beastie Boys changed the world of music and have forever left their stamp on the industry and pop culture.  I can remember being in middle school and seeing the Beastie Boys music videos playing on MTV and thinking that nerdy white kids, like myself, could someday be cool.

One of my favorite of these videos was for their track "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn," off of their smash hit album Licensed to Ill.  It was definitely a track that I spent years screaming aloud to while driving around with my friends, listening to the album so loud that I have possibly lost a good deal of my hearing due to those crazy nights.

Apparently I'm not the only Beastie Boys fan, because the alt-country rockers from Vancouver, Virginia Leaves, reposted their take on "No Sleep 'til Brooklyn" on their Soundcloud page in honor of MCA.  It kicks off the verse with some Americana-inspired acoustic guitar, but they really let the chorus rock, as could only be done with this song.  All with a bit of southern rock flair.  After all, Vancouver is in southern Canada.

Here's to you MCA; we miss you!