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I have to agree that starting a band with the intention to only cover other bands is never a great idea. It's ok if you're in junior high, but if you want to make music, start making your own as soon as possible.
The only musicians from my salad days who are still making music are the ones who refused to do covers, and got into songwriting early. The truth is that nobody just knows how to write good songs. You have to write a few years' worth of shit before you write anything good, and you have to create a style that you feel is uniquely you before you will be proud of anything you write. That may sound intimidating, but it's good advice. Learn to play "like you" by fucking around and having fun. Instead of covering Pavement, try to write new songs in their style. Or of you must cover, try covering something that sounds nothing like Pavement, and then play it the way you think Pavement might.
I have never been a good lyricist, but I can play, and have played, in a few bands. I never wrote anything I was proud of until I wrote collaboratively, and had friends with me who would take my lame ass dropped D riffs and say "why don't you do .... Instead?" At first, I was always reluctant. But I always ended up liking the variation on my idea better than my original idea, and I ended up making a few damn good songs with the help of my friends.
When we did do covers, we did weird ones. Like covering Jets to Brazil in a Minor Threat like way... Or Metallica in a Meat Puppets way... But don't just start a cover band. Girl or boy, it doesn't matter. Play for fun until you feel your serotonin rushing from an improvised chord change. Discover your musical self through jamming with people who are less subjective about your ideas; particularly those bold enough to tell you when your ideas are shit. Then you can start to create your own revolution.
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