My Top 1000 Songs #834: Ray Ray Rain

[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.]

Dutch indie rockers Bettie Serveert nailed it right out of the box with their 1992 debut Palomine, still one of my favorite records of the 90s. A long time in coming, 1995's follow-up, Lamprey, couldn't quite match it, but was still pretty damn solid, offering a comparable blend of chiming folk-tinged rock (highlighted by Carol Van Dijk's appealing vocals) topped with some grunge/Crazy Horse-styled distortion. They found a perfect mid-point with the single "Ray Ray Rain," infectious radio-ready pop given the 90s alt.rock guitar treatment. Something you can hum along to while you crank it up and shake the walls.

Live on Conan:

...and MTV's 120 Minutes:

Cool performance backed by a full orchestra (alas, recorded to a warbly videotape):