“Stand and Deliver,” the first song recorded by the reunited No Doubt, leaked yesterday, nearly a month before the band was due to perform the song on a flashback episode of Gossip Girl.
Like No Doubt’s cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life,” Gwen Stefani and her bandmates manage to take Adam & The Ants’ “Prince Charming” hit and skew it both more modern and more new wave. Stefani replaces Ant’s thick British vocals from the original with her own valley girl cadence, befitting of the band’s role as early 1980s Los Angeles rockers on Gossip Girl. That episode, a “backdoor pilot” for a spin-off series, airs May 11th.
No Doubt takes a more obscure route with their comeback single, picking this track over more popular new wave hits and even more famous Adam Ant songs like “Goody Two Shoes” or “Don’t be Square (Be There.)” Now if only No Doubt will film an equally ridiculous music video for “Stand and Deliver” like Adam and his Ants did.
No Doubt kicks off its reunion tour May 2nd show in Atlantic City, before heading north to play the Bamboozle. The reunion tour concludes August 4th in Irvine, Calif. Fans who purchase tickets for any of the shows will also receive the band’s full digital catalog as a free download. Following their tour, No Doubt anticipates continuing work on its new album, its first since 2001’s “Rock Steady.”