PSA Numero Uno
The Horse’s reading of “She’ll Be Comin’ ’round The Mountain” — from its new album of Horsed-out old-time Folk tunes — is freaking awesome!
Young has exhumed some lyrics I’ve certainly never heard of. “We’re gonna kill the big red rooster when she comes”? “She will take us to the portals when she comes”? What?? (Well, I guess if nothing else, it shows that Christians were just as nuts way back in the Nineteenth Century as they still are to-day.) Anyways, the arrangement will blow you away. This is a song to which to stop everything you’re doing, close your eyes, and attempt to levitate. (Just, don’t forget to crank it up.)
Though it’s decidedly not in the same class as Springsteen’s similar project from a few years back, the rest of the album is quite good as well. (To be fair, that Springsteen disc proved out as my fourth-favourite rekkid of the ’00s — so, rather a tough act to follow!)
PSA Numero Dos
More of an FYI that a PSA, I guess. Having been two years gone since its release, I feel it safe to now officially promote Ted Leo’s & The Pharmacists’ “Woke Up Near Chelsea” — from the fantastically great album The Brutalist Bricks — to my favourite all-time Punk Rock song. It’s the only time, in this blogger’s opinion, the band have managed to truly capture in studio the unrivaled ferocity of its live act.
Kinda surprised to’ve been unable to locate the track online; I went and slapped together a very basic slideshow. (Oh, yeah: don’t forget to crank it.)
So, I guess the rest of the top five now plays out as follows.
In second, we gots Sleater-Kinney with “Entertain”. Well factually, I don’t like the official video at all. So here they are, instead, performing it live on The Henry Rollins Show. Janet is just on fire here. Good god, how I miss this band! (By the way: uhhhh…Rollins had a teevee show? How did I not know about that? Were there, like, three episodes, or something?)
Bronze medal given to “Holidays In The Sun”. Pretty sure this is the first Punk Rock song I ever heard. At the least, it’s the one first I ever intentionally heard. Still recall quite clearly being in utter disbelief that any song could sound this great.
Batting cleanup, Minor Threat’s “Filler” checks in at a brisk one minute and thiry-two seconds of beautiful, glorious Punk Rock fury. Probably my fave Punk band of all time.
Fifth, but certainly not least, it’s Husker Du with “Books About UFOs”: total Punk Rock rave-up! While the lyrics most definitely do not carry the same heft as do those of the other songs here; I just can’t get enough of that guitar/piano combo.