#112. 'And this is how we call it a comeback'

Cansei de ser Sexy "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above"

There are some times that I look at the song I'm about to add to this list and wonder what the fuck I'm gonna talk about for a thousand words or so. I mean, any song has the possibility to spark off some dissection on my part since I like to over-analyze things that I really like, but occasionally there are songs that just don't really merit a deep look. Sometimes it's as simple as 'I like things that are fun' or another statement along those lines, and that's perfectly fine with me. Of course there's always reasons for that statement to be applied, even if the song's don't merit deep analysis.

So why do I think "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above" is fun? I think it's the song's lack of - scratch that, utter disdain for - anything resembling sophistication. It's not that it's bawdy or unrelentingly in your face, more that it's charm lies in its utterly shambolic nature. The song defies conventional logic that you need some sort of progression within a song, either a dynamic rise and fall or a narrative thread to follow and just coasts along on its instantly addictive rhythmic guitar riff for 90% of the song. There's not a conventional chorus, no change in sonic palette, just a constant groove that makes up for its static nature by being among the catchiest riffs the decade produced. Top it all off with some endearingly random chanting and you've got a piece of lightweight party rock that does nothing but move the crowd as it were, but it does so in the best possible way.

And then it all just stops of a bit, and a classic is born or something. CSS aren't the first band to get a good groove going only to throw it out for a random interlude, "You Made Me Realize" probably mastered that trick a full 18 years before "Let's Make Love" was released, but the quick switch from one Death from Above tribute to another is one of those random things that should not work but does. Think about it, after pleasantly bobbing along down a light, funky groove should an 8-bar diversion into noise-rock sound anything other than utterly stupid? Well, maybe not if it's done right, but the fact is that the perfunctory nature of the switch shouldn't work at all. The fact that it does, and that the transition doesn't bog the song down much if at all is a bit of a miracle, and much more than I'd have expected from a song as unsophisticated as this one.

Coming up tomorrow: Post rock bands do singles now? Crazy times...