Music: Last Kiss

Alternative rock isn’t dead yet. Pearl Jam’s latest single, Last Kiss, has proved to be the biggest hit of the band’s career, ascending to No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart, a region inhabited lately by the likes of the Backstreet Boys. A cover of a song that was a hit for J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers in 1964, Last Kiss is on the compilation album No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees. Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder decided to cover the tune after finding a 45 of it in an antiques store. It’s a spare, morose song with Vedder’s voice warbling lovelorn over a straight-ahead drum beat. Going back to basics has put Pearl Jam back on top.

–C.J.F.