Maryland rock band VEER is releasing their own version of “Pet Sematary” by The Ramones, and it will drop Wednesday, October 30th, just in time for Halloween. It’s really well done and I know fans of VEER will be pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. The song will no doubt be added to lots of Halloween playlists, including mine.
VEER is from Annapolis, Maryland and was formed in 2016. The members include: Ronald Malfi (lead vocals, rhythm guitar); Jon Malfi (drums); Ryan Fowler (lead guitar, backing vocals); and Christian Mathis (bass guitar). The band members all grew up together and had played in different bands with each other over the years. At some point they went their separate ways to pursue other projects, but eventually they “VEERed” back together to form this project. Hence, the band name VEER. This is Jon’s version of the story of the beginning of VEER, and he admits the other band members might have slightly different stories, but for the most part this is accurate.
“Pet Sematary” was originally written and recorded by punk rock band The Ramones for inclusion in the 1989 Stephen King movie adaptation of his novel of the same name. Why did VEER decide to do their own version of “Pet Sematary”? In 2019 they did a big Halloween show for the release of their EP Shut Up And Breathe. They decided to add a cover song to their set, and they wanted it to be Halloween-themed. As most people know, Ronald is a well-known author, and they are big fans of horror movies and Stephen King, so “Pet Sematary” seemed perfect.
It wasn’t until this year that they decided to actually record their own remake of “Pet Sematary”. Every time they would play the song live, fans would ask them if they were planning on releasing it, and now it’s happening!
Since this is, believe it or not, my first time writing about a remake of a song, I wanted to find out how a band puts something like this together. Jon shares that the process for working on a remake is pretty much the same they use when writing their own original music. Everyone comes in with ideas of how they feel certain parts should be, and they piece it all together until it flows the way they want it to. Because VEER is made up of four equal parts, when you hear the final version, you know that each band member put their touch on it before it was released to the world.
The VEER version of “Pet Sematary” was produced by Steve Wright, and is licensed by Warner Music. I really enjoyed this version of the song. It pays tribute to the original, but with a modern, hard rock, “VEER twist”. It’s not really punk rock, which I believe is fine, because VEER is not a punk band and it wouldn’t make sense to try to do the song that way. One of the things I really like about VEER’s version of this song is that it’s more fast-paced than the original. I know fans will really enjoy this remake!
VEER is a band that is well-known for unique and fun merchandise. They take pride in coming up with new items that help get the VEER brand out there. In honor of the release of VEER’s rendition of “Pet Sematary”, the band has released a pre-order link for a limited-edition vinyl of the song, along with a bunch of additional merchandise. For $30, you get the single on vinyl, a CD version, an 8-inch zombie hand sticker, a signed 6×6 flat, and the band’s official trading card (#5 in the series). The package can be pre-ordered on the band’s website at veerband.net/store. The merch pre-order ends October 31st, so make sure to act now!
As Ron Malfi says, “Unlike the Stephen King story itself, once these packages are gone, they WON’T be coming back from the dead.”
Speaking of unique band merch, VEER released their very own VEER BEER back in the summer, collaborating with Mitch Hull from Rapture Brewing of Oklahoma. Mitch is a big fan of Ronald’s writing, and became a fan of the band as well, and approached them with the idea for the beer. Mitch is awesome and produces great beer, and they hope to work with him again on a future project. As beer lovers, my boyfriend and I ordered VEER BEER to be delivered to our home, and we really enjoyed this Astronaut Amber Lager! The 32-ounce crowler comes with a signed 6×10 beer label, a special guitar pick, and a sticker. You can still order the beer by emailing rapturebrewing@gmail.com and telling them you want some VEER BEER!
VEER has one more remake they’ll be dropping before the end of 2024, and they think a lot of people will be surprised about that one. They are working on new original music for their next album, also. As always, they are brainstorming new merch ideas, and there will be new show announcements coming. Recently, it was announced that VEER would be performing at the Rock On The Hill Music Festival Saturday, June 7th, 2025 in Hanover, Pennsylvania. They have been at this festival in the past, and are a fan favorite. I’m hoping to be there to see them myself!
You can follow VEER on Facebook, Instagram, LinkTree, and the band’s website.
ADDENDUM: “Pet Sematary” was released on all listening platforms October 30th, 2024.
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