Earwig >> Everything just blinds me

Earwig - "Everything's Just Fine"

(La-Di-Da Productions, 1991)

This is from Earwig's EP called Might, which is a pretty cool word when you think of the two totally different meanings of it, one of them denoting power and the other indecision.  The contrast between Kirsty Yates' catatonic vocals and the tumultuous, bombastic backing music is just brilliant, IMO, and has a disorienting effect on the listener's brain.  In fact, a great downtempo / trip-hop remix of this song could easily be made by just taking out the guitar and adding some atmospheric synth.

I believe the song is about domestic violence, but I'm not sure.  Might was released only on 12", but all four of its tracks were included in the band's compilation CD called Past, which came out the following year; that's where I got this song.  Yes, British bands of this era & ilk loved to use one-word titles for their albums / EPs, preferably with four or five letters.  The other awesome song on Might is "Driving You Mad, Slowly," which has a great video that I just recently discovered:

Other music videos that feature cars being smashed with blunt implements:

Depeche Mode - "Stripped"

Failure - "Undone"

Surely there are more, so let me know of any. 

I would say Might is one of the key releases of its time and place, but it's almost totally unknown.  If it had been released on Creation, 4AD, Matador, etc., it'd probably be talked about extensively as a landmark of the scene.  Not long after this, Earwig shed their drummer and changed their insect-y name to the much better Insides, and changed their sound dramatically, to an insular, downtempo, electronic throb, but more on that later.  I only found out about Earwig after falling in love with Insides two years ago.

CDs currently in my car:

Lowercase - The Going Away Present

A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

Puro Instinct - Headbangers In Ecstasy

Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse

Various Artists - Excursions In Ambience: The Third Dimension

A.R. Kane - Americana

Philip Aaberg - Out Of The Frame

Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega

The Drop - The New Horror Guidelines

Bauhaus - Press The Eject And Give Me The Tape (CD-R)

The Police - Every Breath You Take: The Classics

(Rahsaan) Roland Kirk - Rip, Rig, And Panic / Now Please Don't You Cry, Beautiful Edith

Planets with similar climates: Sonic Youth - "Wish Fulfillment" (1992), Bleach - "First" (1991), Helium - "Hole In The Ground" (1993), Band Of Susans - "Hell Bent" (1994), Editors - "Lights" (2005).

Most bizarre thing that I read today: Man Gets Eye Replaced With Video Camera

Most horrifying non-Hurricane-Irene-related headline of the day: Neutral Milk Hotel To Release Box Set