My Top 1000 Songs #960: Opened

[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.]

Unlike the Breeders' breakthrough second album Last Splash, which had some fully-realized and obviously enduring songs, 1990's Pod feels more like Kim Deal tossing off some rough sketches for tracks Frank Black wouldn't let the Pixies record. Of course, these are some pretty great sketches, given a prickly, dry production by the late Steve Albini, a chance for Deal and Tanya Donelly (pre-Belly, still with Throwing Muses) to try out some interesting musical ideas.

There are probably better, more polished tunes on Pod--"Fortunately Gone" feels more like a proper "song"--but something about "Opened" has long captured my imagination. A simple, bass & drums-driven hook provides the propulsion, with some slashing guitar bits, and Kim sounding particularly menacing, wrapping her scratchy croon around a few strangely disconcerting lyrical images. Like Deal's sometimes musical peers Guided By Voices, it sounds more like a blueprint for something bigger, letting your imagination fill in the gaps.

Live 2013 (not a standard part of the repertoire, hence the dude holding up the lyrics):