Musical bait-and-switch #1

[uberreiniger]

Being a music lover, one phenomenon that never fails to intrigue me is recording artists who became famous (or notorious, as the case may be,) for a song that sounds nothing like their greater body of work. Obviously, 80's hair bands are the most legendary offenders in this category. As we all know, those power ballads you slow-danced to at the 8th grade social were just a trick to make you buy albums full of obnoxious tales of drinking whiskey and banging hookers on the Sunset Strip. But there are many artists who actually make interesting music that had this happen to them without necessarily meaning to. Since I'm kind of obsessed with this I've decided from time to time to bring up a noteworthy example.

Shriekback - Nemesis

The music of Shriekback - if it can be defined at all - tends to be groovy and hypnotic, with introspective, deeply philosophical lyrics. Naturally, they are best known for the bombastic, nihilism-themed, and appropriately titled "Nemesis." Despite being 25 years old this is still a pretty cool music video. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Watch for the cameo appearances by British comic book anti-hero Nemesis the Warlock. WARNING: Do not listen to the song "Nemesis" if you are prone to Earworms. CAUTION: Listening to "Nemesis" may cause you to try to use the word "parthenogenesis" at inappropriate times.

Comments

[lucretiasheart.livejournal.com]

I own the album, and you're totally right! =^)

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

I came across a blog a while back that laid out a formulated reasoning for why Nemesis is the ultimate Goth song. And it is. It really, really is :) Last I heard the main guy is still performing under the Shriekback name. It's a shame they never got the recognition they deserved.

[full-metal-ox.livejournal.com]

(I wandered here from Dungeonwriter's blog, if you're wondering.)

Would this happen to be the essay in question (1)? (If it is, good call re the Symbolist/Decadent context and amazing polysyllabic rhyming--in fact, I'm fond of citing this song as a stellar example of the latter.)

The combination of darkly foreboding lyrics with a crisp, punchy, danceable beat is one of the fastest routes to my musical heart; other examples include Bowie's "1984" (2), Toyah Willcox's "Ieya" (3), and Abney Park's "Hush" (4).

(For some reason, I find myself associating "Nemesis" with Ray Bradbury's story "The Homecoming"--"everybody happy as the dead come home"? It's certainly apropos background music for revelry among a secret cabal of monsters.)

(1)http://jwm.livejournal.com/105861.html
(2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ymyWS82NsY
(3)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6p8iYkWe0
(4)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16ssKE540XY

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Hi there. Nice to see you over here from dungeonwriter's where I so often see you. I honestly don't recall if that's the essay. I'll have to check out the Abney Park song though, since I've heard a little bit of them and really like what I've heard.

I've come to associate the song with my favorite show Lost which features ghosts and an antagonist who is quite literally a "big black nemesis."