KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat The Mocking Birds strike up some crazy rhythms at O'Malley's on Fourth Avenue Feb. 26. The band, which does mostly covers, plays weekly at O'Malley's.

It's gone from an original band to a cover band, from playing frat parties to local bars. But on Thursday nights, The Mocking Birds' home is O'Malley's.

The Mocking Birds ÷ James Couzens, drummer; Brett Beuckman, lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Rick Hill, lead guitar; and Jason Claybaugh, bass guitar ÷ is an '80s cover band that has been playing at O'Malley's, 47 N. Fourth Ave., for five years.

"It's like a home. It's like we're part of the O'Malley's family," Beuckman said.

The Mocking Birds formed seven years ago as an original band, The Simplistics, until they got offered gigs at fraternity and sorority parties as a cover band. At first, the band turned the offer down, but when money got tight, it decided to give it a try.

"We turned out to be really good at it, which surprised us," Beuckman said.

Members of the band were also surprised at the attention they got and the turnout for calls for a cover band outside of the frat and sorority scene, he said.

After becoming a cover band, the band changed its name to The Mocking Birds because "a mocking bird doesn't really have a song of its own; it just copies other birds," Beuckman said.

Beuckman and Couzens agree that original rock bands are not as well-received at bars as cover bands.

"The audience is more interested in hearing something that they know," said Couzens, who graduated from the UA in 2001 with a media arts degree.

While Beuckman agreed that most of the band's songs are mainstream covers, both he and Couzens prefer to play their own music.

"(Being in a cover band) doesn't give you a lot of spiritual or artistic vibes because you're playing other people's music," Beuckman said.

As far as playing at O'Malley's goes, Couzens said it is one of the better venues in town and usually has a great crowd Thursday nights.

"People are almost guaranteed to get drunk, so it's easier to entertain. When everybody gets drunk, they are more responsive to the band," he said.

Some of the songs The Mocking Birds sing get more attention than others.

"ÎBlister in the Sun' by the Violent Femmes seems to be a crowd pleaser," Beuckman said.

"ÎSweet Home Alabama' ÷ it always goes over so damn well," Couzens said.

However, the band's favorite picks are a little different. Couzens likes to play "Blue Monday" by New Order because it has the most fun drums.

Beuckman's favorite song to sing is "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds because it comes naturally to him. It's in his vocal range, and he feels he can bring something new to the song.

When it comes to getting a reaction out of the crowd, Couzens said, "We want to rock them. We want them to scream and get drunk."

Beuckman said they are looking for energy, excitement and participation. His favorite thing about playing in the band is being able to feed off the energy of the crowd.

"There's no other job where you get paid to pound on your instrument, drink beer and be the center of attention," Couzens said.