MP3: Passion Pit Covers Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight"

​The year was 1995. Doc Martens, babydoll dresses, and plaid were in, and grunge was the music flavor du jour. Then alternative rockers the Smashing Pumpkins released their double-dosc, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, which would top the Billboard charts and spawn one of their most popular songs to date, "Tonight, Tonight."

Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos has a thing for unexpected covers, a fact to which those who went to the Fillmore show just a few weeks ago can attest. Then, we were all a bit surprised and delighted when he covered the Cranberries' "Dreams." (If you missed it, the band is now now streaming a version on its MySpace page).  Passion Pit is celebrating the return of SP by teaming up with Levi's for "Pioneer Sessions" -- a collaboration wherein musicians pick the bands that have inspired them most and recreate their favorite songs.

Angelakos and company have reconstructed "Tonight, Tonight" and replaced the 30-piece string quartet with their own trademark keyboards and synths, giving the single a Passion Pit makeover that works best with Angelakos' "sonic palette" (hey, his words, not ours).

Check out the just-release, making-of video footage, and download the song for free, below.