First, there’s this cascading rhythm, almost like an avalanche of keyboard scronks, humping bass and sawing psycho-killer guitar from the Talking Heads. Everything is happening all at once, yet flowing together in a recognizably soulful torrent.
The Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless,” released as part of the Brian Eno-helmed Remain in Light on Oct. 8, 1980, was a fizzy blend of Africana and funk, through the too-thick lenses of t-shirt-wearing group of college nerds.
And that’s just what the Talking Heads were. Of course, so were we. It was beautiful.
Everybody remembers the facts-are-this and facts-are-that part – clearly, we see now, a signpost for the easy suburban nihilism of the looming decade – but this was the heart of “Crosseyed and Painless”: “I feel like an accident,” Talking Heads vocalist David Byrne hiccuped, echoing the deeper fears a generation.
But also, copping to the found-object brilliance of this four-piece amalgam. Would’ve made a lot of sense, if we had stopped dancing around long enough to think about it.
I know I didn’t.
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Rock + Pop): Death Cab for Cutie, Joe Jackson, Toto + Others - January 18, 2016
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Blues, Jazz + R&B): Boz Scaggs, Gavin Harrison, Alabama Shakes - January 10, 2016
- Nick DeRiso’s Best of 2015 (Reissues + Live): John Oates, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Faces + others - January 7, 2016
