Why Electric 5’s “Paint It Black” Cover Proves Strings Can Rock Harder Than Guitars

Some covers pay homage. Others rip a song apart and rebuild it from the ground up. Chicago’s all-female electric string quintet Electric 5 has done the latter with their latest release: a blistering take on The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black”.

Forget lush orchestras or polished crossover productions. This is raw, live, and powered entirely by strings. No backing tracks. No smoke and mirrors. Just two cellos and three violins locked in like a rock band on fire.

This isn’t Electric 5’s first foray into heavy classics. Their recent cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” introduced audiences to their “no-tracks” ethos—a commitment to proving strings alone can hit as hard as amps and distortion pedals. With “Paint It Black”, they take that vision deeper, channeling one of rock’s most haunting songs through the sheer power of bow and string.

Electric 5 isn’t simply blending genres—they’re rewriting the rules of what strings can do in modern music. Formed in Chicago around the idea of being bold and unapologetically original, the quintet has carved out a lane that’s equal parts rock, classical precision, and fearless experimentation.

For fans of reinvention, this is a must-listen. For skeptics who doubt strings can pack the punch of a guitar riff, this might be the performance that changes your mind.

Stream “Paint It Black” now on Spotify below.