My Top 1000 Songs #722: Bow Hitchhiker

 

[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.] 

I came across Irish post-punk act Rollerskate Skinny when they opened for Pavement back in '94. Their opening set holds the distinction of being the loudest show I've ever seen (and I've seen a LOT of concerts). Like, the sort of loud that physically hurts your entire body (I remember having to step outside for a couple songs). Still, there was something about the music that I found interesting, to the extent I could discern it amongst the deafening, wall-shaking vibrations. I picked up their 1993 album Shoulder Voices, and it was... well, kinda cool. Definitely a 90s indie vibe to it, a distant cousin to the likes of Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips, abrasive and experimental yet still catchy... but also some darker vibes, like the band had listened to their share of Ministry and goth. 

So, no, maybe not everyone's cuppa tea. But between the record and the dim memories of that agonizingly loud show, a few tracks are etched, almost physically, into my brain. Particularly "Bow Hitchhiker, " which is probably the most Ministry-like song on the LP, a metallic thrash and hammer-party beat, with this weird "ss-ss-ss-ss" percussion sound throughout the song that has forever haunted my nightmares, and something disturbing about the lyrics... yet somehow, once the abrasive bits ease into a surprisingly melodic, endearing verse, it gels into an oddly infectious epic I can't shake.

Try it if you dare!