Unlike yesterday's song, this one is actually about a pony. And Ralph Stanley.
I've long been a fan of Kasey Chambers - the undisputed queen of Australian country music - so I'm glad I got this opportunity to post one of my favorite songs by her.
I own The Burdens of Being Upright, which was Tracy Bonham's debut album. I know when and where I bought it.
March 12, 1997, Circuit City, Henrietta NY.
I still almost forgot this song existed, and that's a shame, because it's a great song. It opens with some manic VIOLIN playing by Bonham, and ping-pongs between noise-filled frenzy and quiet thoughtful verses. It is a nearly perfect and criminally overlooked song.
One of the biggest absences from Spotify, in my opinion is Curve's debut album, Doppelgänger. It is a brilliant, grungy album that was overshadowed by others in its time - but it was ahead of its time.
Co-written by Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia, who were Curve, this was the lead track from that album - and it hits in the face with its combination of overwhelming power-pop and gothic undertones. Unlike other bands in the "shoegaze" genre that was so popular in the early 1990s, Toni Halliday's vocal is right out front, not at all mumbled.
Roky Erickson was a pioneer of psychedelic music and founded a band called the 13th Floor Elevators, who were true pioneers.
Then he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Which was probably a boon to his music and the lyrical imagery, but did cause a lot of personal problems for him.
He did get treatment, and his musical career never stopped. In 1982, he recorded a solo album called Don't Slander Me. This, the title song, is one of my favorites by him. This performance is one he did with a reunited 13th Floor Elevators.
Wicked Guilty Pleasures had been running at a breakneck pace for almost two years straight. So we took a little break.
But we're back now.
And we're going to pull out this song, which was covered by both Billie Eilish and Maisy Stella. If you are familiar with those covers (and they're on Totally Covered, so why aren't you?!), you'll notice that Higgins sings it in a different key - and the song is actually simpler than those two ladies made it. There's only a few chords that make up this extremely sparse song (the original recording is only a little less sparse).
Lyrically, it's so rich and powerful to hear it from the songwriter.