1. Laughing by R.E.M. taken from 'Murmur' (1983)
Androgynous bass. Post-punk? We've heard this... At 0.14 however a beautiful guitar line and weary voice crash into our periphery. I mean nothing new in one sense, but actually a surreal dark beauty is uncovered. It's not goth. It's not unlike the Postcard sound in Glasgow. In fact it's very similar to Orange Juice's 'Falling And Laughing'. But this is something brilliantly new for America. A unique beautiful indie artifact. If you know R.E.M. today, listening to this song is like looking at a baby photo of someone you love, but have only known as a grown up. From it's shaky, uneasy start the song continues around to 3:10 whereupon from here til the end it confidently shakes and shimmers, evoking 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Joy Division. Oh the beauty of it! All inside one's head it seems. Or just in a room... "Lock the doors, latch the room". You can hear Michael Stipe's young heart struggling to make sense of itself "emotion bound". It's the sound of being afraid to run outside, and hanging on the porch, breathing in the summer air, but dazzling itself by the sunlight. Remarkable! Not in the context of the world (the track is in debt to other 'pioneering' indie/post-punk recordings), but for R.E.M. Searching...for a place to laugh.
2. 'Leader Of The Pack' by The Shangri-Las taken from 'Leader Of The Pack' (1964). Also a US #1 Single.
Culturally somewhere in between 'Rebel Without A Cause' and 'Grease', lie the 60s girl groups singing about teenage heartbreak and youth alienation. 'Leader of The Pack' is the best song of it's kind. Sublime, engrossing, dramatic, sugary sweet voices, film like dialog. That's why I referenced films with regards to this single. It's all about that motorcycle sound and that spoken opening line "Is she really going out with him?". Musically simple, classic 60s sound which was adored by 80s indiekids. Truly heartbreaking death at 1.40. Motorcycle accident leads to death. End of relationship. Seemingly the end of the world to poor young Betty. More of a film than a song. And I love it for that reason.
3. 'Wishful Thinking' by Pulp taken from 'It' (1983)
Pulp are actually a lot like the aforementioned R.E.M. This song feels very similar. Except instead of the jerky bassline, there's flutes and keyboards. Also if this song IS about a room, it's about a bloody huge one. 'Laughing' is contained in a small box. This song is contained in a dark lake. Pulp in these early days were a super dark band. Again; not goth. But super dark. I just love Jarvis Cocker's old voice as he yodels out "I've got this love inside of me". The start is the eeriest bit. Not until the maracas and keyboard bloops (like a fruit machine) set in does it get any lighter. It could be seen as pathetic. But it's truly supposed to be all echoey and twee. The song might sound like a lake, but it isn't floating, it's barely existing. It's the opposite of snappy. But it's not wandering either. It can't seem to move at all. "I have this pain inside of me/Why can't you see?/...I'm stranded here with no way home/Please rescue me" Beautiful and odd. A dark night best forgotten, but one you cannot get out of your mind.
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