There are days where you can’t focus, where every subject just seems to be white noise with varying in intensity. Where things are just … distorted. Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep the night before. Maybe you’ve ruptured your ear drum. Maybe you were a little to quick to dismiss the notion of an “acid flashback.” Whatever the reason, theFiver’s got you covered. Here are, in no particular order, the:
1. “California Girls,” The Magnetic Fields
Singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt loved the concept of distortion (and Jesus And Mary Chain – see No. 3) so much he named his band’s last album after it. And one of the best tracks off said album is this symphony of distortion, “California Girls.” Here, our friends from the Hills seem to get their just deserts, as in the song’s coda: “They will hear me say, as the pavement whirls, ‘I hate california girls.’”
2. “So What’cha Want,” Beastie Boys
Where would we be without the Boys’ 1992’s opus “Check Your Head”? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t want to be there. Raucous and fun, if this tune doesn’t make you want to pogo, then you’re no friend of mine.
3. “Just Like Honey,” The Jesus And Mary Chain
That which birthed The Magnetic FIelds. This alternative staple is so sweet, it might actually make you forget any image of Bill Murray getting cuddly with Scarlet Johanson.
4. “The Wretched,” Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor ushered in a new era of distortion-as-music with 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine and its signature tune “Head Like A Hole.” He upped the ante, though, with 1994’s The Downward Spiral, and continued with this track off
The Fragile (1999), “The Wretched.”
5. “Apple Option Fire,” Hot Lava
Indie band Hot Lava takes bit of a fun approach to distortion, finally giving the musical twist that gaming on a Mac deserves.
Runners Up: “Closer,” “Head Like A Hole,” et al., Nine Inch Nails; “She’s Your Cocaine,” Tori Amos; “Wild Honey Pie,” The Beatles; “Slip Inside This House” (Thirteenth Floor Elevators cover), Primal Scream. So what bends your antennae?
