Bleach >> I'm a shotgun when you want to be a warm sun

Bleach - "Shotgun"

(Musidisc Records, 1991)

Since a teenage user on a music rating site that I use recently made a rant against Faith No More's supposed "rap-metal" stylings, repeatedly expressed misogynist beliefs, and said that I partake in "feminist bullshit," I figured I'd post a song with a female singer rapping over a shoegaze background, if only to see if his head would explode at encountering all these things he hates rolled into one pie.  I mean, one can insult me all one wants, but when Faith No More is brought into it, a line has been crossed and things shift to a different level.  This person apparently has no idea that FNM's original lead singer was black, and hence the Rock Police would thereby have granted him leeway to do some rap-style singing.  (Chuck recently put out a solo album cheekily titled Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food.)  His favorite bands are Neutral Milk Hotel and Bright Eyes... No, really.  So one song immediately popped into my mind, since I already posted the other one ("Burn", also by Bleach).  The feral intensity of the guitars in this song will never cease to impress me.  The tremoloed guitar at the beginning adds a bit of surfy twang, but that is quickly massacred by a tsunami of drums and what I call "Godzilla roar" guitars.  I always looked at this as sort of a novelty track until about 5 years ago, when I realized how addictive and well-contructed it was.

This song apparently caused a minor stir in the U.K. indie scene when it was released as a single (on CD, 7", and 12") in 1991.  It was then wisely included on Bleach's sole album, Killing Time, in '92.  That's one of my top ten fav. LPs ever, but I'm sure I've mentioned that before.  If you don't know which version of "Shotgun" you're listening to, the single (indie) version is 3:51 long and the album (major-label) version is 3:42.  The versions sound identical, except that the album version has four drum taps at the beginning.  And on the single version, Salli ends the second stanza with "Spin me around," whereas on the album version she uses "Fucking around."
Salli's sharp-edged vocals in this song can be discussed forever, both pro and con.  Being someone who listened exclusively to rap / hip hop in that particular year (1991), I can say that she knew exactly what she was doing, and did it with zero hesitation or "Ha ha, check this out" sarcasm.  (If you want the latter, check out Sonic Youth's "Master-Dik.")  Her vocal starting at 1:55 is very badass, playing off the beat in a nimble way that noted clumsy rapper Kanye West should take notes from.  What I mean by that is that she slows down for a line, then speeds up and uses the bass drum hits to provide emphasis/punch underneath certain words near the end of phrases.  You can even hear her waiting a split second to say the second syllable of the word "homespun" right on the kick drum (bass drum).  It takes skilled breath control to be able to do this stuff; for someone who was known for her somewhat reedy / fey voice, she stepped up and really delivered the goods here.  I've spent years trying to figure out what she says at this 1:55 section; I know it contains "You do and say what you think I'm not supposed to" and "I don't say what I'm allowed to."

The single's cover art features a silver-painted foot with a blue string tied around it.  The string could either be for an i.d. tag in a morgue, or a way for a person to commit suicide by tugging on it whilst its other end is on the trigger of a gun.  Parasol Records was clearancing this 7" for 50 cents for several years, and I always swore I'd get around to ordering a bunch, but recently was miffed to discover they no longer have it.  The b-side is the extremely poppy and passionate "Bone," which should have also been released as a single.  I would recommend buying the CD or 12" version instead of the 7", since in addition to "Bone," those formats add the stunning 10-minute "First & Last."  An absolutely essential and groundbreaking EP, which I give 5 stars without any reservations.

A few days ago I discovered that Bleach made a video for "Decadence" in 1990.  This made my week.  The last third or so of the video has lots of psychedelically-tinted sea creatures:

This means that they had at least three videos, the others being the exuberant "Dipping" (1991) and the stylishly vertiginous "Surround" (1992).  Does anyone know if there was a video for "Shotgun"?  I also just found an ferociously spirited and bloodthirsty Peel session from July '91, which is neither for those who are faint of heart nor for those with flimsy computer speakers.  Fun Fact: This was the same approximate month that I bought Above The Law's Livin' Like Hustlers, an album that brilliantly combined rap with jazz & rock instrumentation.  I wouldn't even find out about Bleach until about a decade later.  Also in '91, Public Enemy and Anthrax were touring together after having done that (awful) "Bring The Noise" collabo with each other.

Here is a pic from the May 4, 1991 issue of Melody Maker, with Curve on the cover.  As far as I know, this image (photographer credit: Patrick Gilbert) has never been posted online before:

In 1993, a live version of "Shotgun" appeared on Bleach's Trip & Slide & Live promo CD EP, which I've been trying to get my hands on for years.  That EP's artwork also starred the dead silver foot, this time on a bed of red grapes.  In 2006, the song was included on an impressive and much-needed compilation called Like A Daydream: A Shoegazing Guide:

Tracks 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13 & 15 are among the best songs ever recorded, and most of the others are quite nice

It's been a record-setting week of heat across the U.S., with Denver over 100º for 5 straight days and the area near Colorado Springs ablaze.  It's said to be Colorado's worst disaster ever.  Tropical Storm Debby thankfully went to Florida instead of here last week.  No rain here for about 2 weeks now, with temps in mid to upper 90s.

Sat. 6/23: Went to two Louisiana Nursery locations in Baton Rouge, both for the first time. Was very impressed with their plants.

Wed. 6/27: Got a picturesque & hardy species of prickly pear cactus called Opuntia santa-rita at Home Depot to replace a flimsier Opuntia that I already have.

Thur. 6/28: Saw the Flaming Lips set the Guinness world record at HOB.  Grimes dropped off the bill with no notification or explanation.  She was replaced by the somewhat (intentionally or unintentionally?) hilarious MNDR, sort of a combination of Madonna, Har Mar Superstar, and Grimes.  She was decked out in slutty black and white mid-'80s Madge garb, letting her love handles jiggle provocatively, and ordered a guy and girl from the crowd to come up on stage to dance during one song.  MNDR played only about 15 minutes.  Then Wayne Coyne was paraded up Decatur Street to the front of the HOB, with local boys the Stooges Brass Band leading the way.  The Lips kicked off with their two biggest hits, "Do You Realize??" and "She Don't Use Jelly."  I was kind of jaded towards their stage prop tricks, having not seen the Lips since 1994, but I have to admit it was pretty transcendent.  I raised my can of Guinness Draught at the moment the Guinness record breakage was announced.  They played for about 70 minutes, despite averaging only 15 minutes at the previous seven stops.  Thanks for the free tix, Butch!  And thank you Ashley for making it through your terrible day (moving problems + flat tire) and coming out with us.  It was too hot and humid to walk around the Quarter, so afterwards we got some grub at Lucy's (Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar & Restaurant) afterwards, and my sister taught me what a well drink is.  I had my eyes glued to the NBA Draft.  In addition to the somewhat overrated Anthony Davis, we got human highlight reel Austin Rivers, as I'd been hoping.  I've also heard a rumor that Chris Paul wants to come back to the Hornets...

Fri. 6/29: My sister has been mad @ Grimes for canceling, so I texted her a self-deprecating Grimes tweet ("I'm not trying 2 be cute, I have a fucking speech impediment.")  Went to dad's surprise 60th birthday party at Pelican Club.  Tom, Ann, Kathleen, Shane, Ali, Roxanne, Preston, Sprague & wife, Jay & wife, and Jack & wife all came.  It was also Vanessa's bday so she was included too.  Emily cleverly wrote "You're sixty and you know it!" on dad's card, and dad actually crooned a bit of said LMFAO song.  Do not ask me how he knew about it...

Sat. 6/30: Went to Dat Dog's new location for the first time.  We had to sit outside in delightful 95º heat. I got the Guinness (beer) Dog again, but found it overbearingly greasy, so I probably would not get it again.  Got aunt Ann a little Stevia plant at Freret Street Nursery directly across the street.  We did not make it to the NOMA sculpture garden as I had hoped.  Shane ripped lots of my CDs (e.g. Ween [R.I.P.], The Church, Acetone, Gil Scott-Heron, Faith No More, Miles Davis) to his Mac on my recommendation, after quickly selecting Herbie Hancock's Headhunters on his own.  Roxanne decided that she and Shane should get a Uromastyx after she held mine and fed her by hand.  Went to get snowballs at Sal's with dad, Preston & Roxanne.  Used Sears gift card (received as collateral during garage door repair last summer) towards a little Sony HDR-CX190 Handycam, mainly to record bands in concert.  Overall, one of the most eventful & strange 48-hour spans I've had in many years.

Here is a painting I finished on Super Bowl Sunday 2012, whose silver and blue reminds me of the Shotgun cover art.  Yes, the palms are supposed to be leaning towards an implied ocean on their right, since the sand is always shifting / sinking a bit on the ocean side as compared to the dry land side.  And I guess it goes without saying that these are supposed to be coconut palms.  It's the first palm painting I've done on a circular or oval canvas (bought at Hobby Lobby, I think), and I will definitely be using them again:

That's the painting's info card; I try to remember to make one for every artwork I do, just in case I become famous in a few decades.  I posed it on the pot of my 'Blue Elf' aloe for no reason.  Some interesting tidbits are often buried in these cards, such as the fact that those are not black stripes.  The dates also remind me that that silver-coated oval canvas sat on my coffee table for almost a year while I thought about what to do with it.  Note that I only sign the backs of my paintings, never ever ever the fronts, since I grew up admiring album cover art, which essentially never have anyone's name scrawled on them.

Deciding whether I will go see a mediocre band with potential tonight called Widowspeak at Circle Bar, if only because I haven't been there in almost two years.  I don't know if they have A/C post-renovation; they never did before.  Widowspeak sound just like Mazzy Star's first two albums, down to the most minute detail, for better or for worse.  The problem is that they remind me of a more lightweight version of the band EXITMUSIC, and don't yet have Mazzy Star's knack for penning at least a couple memorable tunes per album.

5 greatest NBA Finals moments Legoized

10-year-long video game creates 'hellish nightmare' world - "He doesn't play every day but returns to what he called a 'hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation' when he has some free time.  Now in the year 3991, his world is down to three super-nations, each competing for dwindling resources, and a planet left scarred by multiple nuclear wars.  His Celts are locked in a 1,700-year war with the Vikings and the Americans.  All other nations have been destroyed or absorbed.  Because of the continual fighting, he was forced to abandon his democracy and adopt a communist state, because his Senate kept overruling him when he wanted to declare war.  Also, his cities are filled with starving people (90% of his world's population died from nuclear annihilation or famine from global warming) because, he says, he has to keep building war machines to sustain his combat efforts."

Planets with similar climates: A.C. Temple - "Chinese Burn" (1988), Lush - "Blackout" (1994), Poem Rocket - "Small White Animal" (1995), Bailter Space - "Pass It Up" (1997), Swervedriver - "Son Of Mustang Ford" (1990), Faith No More - "From Out Of Nowhere" (1989), Feverdream - "Vortex" (1995), You Am I - "Embarrassed" (1993).