"Four descending organ notes open the song in a pattern that repeats, unchanged, for the length of the song, joined in time by a hypnotic five-beat drum pattern, then by seemingly random guitar notes that slowly coalesce into an actual riff as the drum pattern breaks down into a more standard (though still tricky) rock beat. Hollow, ringing sounds that could be a gamelan, a prepared piano, or a really large set of wind chimes ricochet around as the guitar, organ, drums, and an almost subliminal one-note bass line gather themselves into a throbbing wall of sound that sounds like an American indie guitar rock version of Can's hyperkinetic Krautrock grooves. Around four and a half minutes in, drummer Georgia Hubley begins singing, in an endearingly offhand manner, vague lyrics that are deliberately mixed well below the rest of the track; in two lengthy verses, the only phrase that even comes close to being decipherable is something that sounds like 'I know you will, I know you will.' Between the two verses, Kaplan unleashes one of his most utterly unhinged guitar solos ever, abusing the instrument in such a fashion that at times it sounds like he's actually yanking the strings off one by one. Hubley guilelessly coos her way into the final verse but finally seems to give up on extracting meaning from the lyrics; as the song starts hurtling toward its climax, Hubley simply starts singing a 'ba-ba-ba-ba' singsong, adding yet another pattern to the mix. The trio developed this song on-stage for over a year before finally recording it -- it was the group's live closer for ages, sometimes lasting over 20 minutes -- and it has a certain epic summing-up quality--"
- posted by cjb @ 9:52 AM