My Top 1000 Songs #498: Bronx Cheer

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

While I generally prefer Mercury Rev's work after they'd pivoted into an artier, more psychedelia-inclined band (particularly on 1998's brilliant Deserter's Songs), this song from their earlier, noisier era--found on 1993 sophomore LP Boces--has long captivated me. Something about its reckless, propulsive chaos and skewed disjointedness, all in service of a surprisingly winning near-pop hook, seems to perfectly sum up that brief intersection of indie post-punk and more radio-ready alt.rock, the moment when it felt like something boisterous and unexpected could still somehow have a shot at breaking through.

Plus, great video.

Lip sync: