Alternative rockers SOUL ASYLUM have revealed that on top of releasing their new studio album, 'Delayed Reaction,' on July 17, the chaps are putting together a covers album paying homage to their early, punk rock pedigree.

Speaking with Rolling Stone, singer Dave Pirner explained that it was drum guy Michael Bland who lobbied that rest of the band to consider doing the album.

“Michael was kind of egging me into it, actually,” Pirner said.

“We had been sitting around in the studio, and Michael talked to the manager about it… and then over the most recent times of getting together, we went after it.  I knew the genre well enough to have a back catalog of things I knew off the top of my head.  I just started throwing them at Michael, and it was a blast.”

When asked what punk covers might make the cut, guitarist Dan Murphy dished that the upcoming album includes popular songs from MC5, the Stooges, Joy Division and the Dead Kennedys, to name some.

The one that really surprised Pirner was Joy Division’s 'Love Will Tear Us Apart.'

“ …It’s kind of a shoegazer, mopey song, but you put [on] some guitars and Dave singing, to me, it sounds pretty good,” he said.

While SOUL ASYLUM’s upcoming studio album will go through all the normal hoops of a proper CD release, Murphy says the guys aren’t sure how they’re going to release the covers set.

“To me, it seems like they’re completely another thing to release somehow, whether we release it on our website, MySpace or any of that stuff,” he said.
 
“We definitely want it to get out there, we want people to hear it. It’s a total mixed bag.”