My Top 1000 Songs #821: Pat's Trick

[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 remember Helium's 1995 debut The Dirt Of Luck coming out when women-led indie bands were getting a lot of attention, both by the rock press and myself. I dutifully picked it up, but found it a little  too challenging for my ears, a little too angular and abrasive, lacking the more readily digested pop concessions of the Breeders and Belly and Bettie Serveert. But the single "Pat's Trick" definitely got my attention. It was weird and actually a little scary, the sort of thing I couldn't quite put my finger on, but I just kept playing. Mary Timony slithers from sultry to menacing, and something about the evocative lyrics and the odd musical changes, askew guitar sounds aligned with Pavement and Sonic Youth, felt a little otherworldly.

I've come to appreciate Timony more over the years, particularly more recent projects like Wild Flag and Ex Hex, but this remains one of those era-specific tracks which still creeps up on me from time to time, a jarring yet hypnotic blast of mid-90s envelope-pushing.

Another 90s alt.rock moment captured on Beavis & Butthead:

Mary Timony, live 2017: