From the cover art to the hellacious guitar racket going on atop the track's spooky tribal drums to lyrics that reference "The Atrocity Exhibition" by J.G. Ballard (a controversial and experimental series of "condensed novels" obsessed with modern celebrity at that time -- 1970 -- including chapters about the Kennedys, Ronald Reagan and Marilyn Monroe), I find this completely unsettling and difficult to get through in one sitting. And it's been that way since I first heard it four decades ago. I've often wondered if the late Ian Curtis meant this song to be a commentary on audiences that came to see the band knowing that he could be gripped by one of his epileptic seizures at any point in their performance -- a true "atrocity exhibition."
Apr 27, 2024
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A grotesque, unsettling musical picture of chaos, massacre and lunacy. There were some years since it was released (1980) where I couldnāt listen to it at all.
It's maybe the most unlikely opening track of an album I've ever heard (despite Ian Curtis' repeated chorus: "This is the way, step inside"). It's based upon a 1970 J.G. Ballard collection of short stories of the same name, which imagines a name-changing protagonist who creates surrealistic fantasies about celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and President Ronald Reagan.
One of the first times in recorded music (long before bands like R.E.M. made a regular practice of this) where I can recall band members swapping instruments; guitarist Bernard Sumner plays bass on the track, bassist Peter Hook "plays" guitar (it's basically one long, wobbly noise scribble).
Super disturbing. I'm always amazed that the band could even pull off a live performance of it. Impossibly influential; you can hear the outline of the Cure's "Pornography," the Swans' catalogue, and much of whatever became to be called "tribal" in the DNA of this track.
Sep 22, 2024
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This may not be the first song I remember hearing, but it is one of the first I can recall having a visceral reaction to. My mom was an avid soundtrack collector of her favorite moviesā The Lost Boys soundtrack often played in my house growing up. One day I was laying on my bed on a dreary afternoon and I remember hearing Jim Morrisonās voice floating up from the downstairs stereo. As he sang faces look ugly when youāre alone I stared into the small faces of the porcelain dolls on my shelf (that my mom insisted I keep on display even though they always made be slightly uncomfortable) until I imagined their faces warping and bending into strange expressions.
Feb 22, 2025
Acoustic guitars! What?!? Iām pretty sure that very early teenage me thought this intro was amazing. So when the Electric Guitar and Drums enter, they do so with Aplomb. To put it mildly. The guitar is HUGE. The riff is HUGE.Ā All Of This And NothingĀ - the bandās most ambitious piece, at that juncture. 6 minutes 23 seconds.
A phonebook full of accidents
A girl to drive your car
A suit to wear on Mondays
And a coat a magazine
A heavy rain a holiday
A painting of the wall
A knife, a fork and memories
A light to see it all
You didn't leave me anything
That I can understand
Itās pretty great, really great, and then, well, it doesnāt *quite* deliver the money shot.
Hey, I never meant that stuff
I want to turn you round
But then the final, excellent conclusion
Now I'm left with all of this
A room full of your trash
Maybe a touch too much sax, but lovely.
The band that refuses to be a rock pop band makes an almost perfect rock pop album.
I'm pretty sure my first band started almost right after this. I couldn't play for shit, but then, I didn't NEED to.
1d ago
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May 22, 2025
Hey tyler hopefully this doesnāt violate some PI.FYI golden rule
But after nearly two years of writing, editing and arguing, my book about the EP is coming out in May and can be preordered here:
https://hozacrecords.com/product/aifl/
The book is about the origins, history and cultural impact of the EP since these little objects first started coming out in the 50s.
Over 50 of my music biz friends then helped me shape the list and review the top 200 ever released, according to us (ha).
For those of you who are into this kind of geekery/snobbery, I canāt wait to hear what you think. A labor of love, as all books are! ā¤ļø
Mar 27, 2024
āSongs Of a Lost Worldā coming to a goth listening station near you Nov 1 š¤
The fr FW Me Friday the 13th the world was looking for
Sep 14, 2024