Album: Sister
Year: 1987
. . .
If “Schizophrenia” started Sister off on a relatively calm note, then the mood was totally broken by the next song, Thurston Moore’s “(I Got a) Catholic Block,” which roars out of the gate at a punky speed and has not just what is recognizable as a catchy riff, it’s a riff that matches the melody of the the song, making it for all of us lapsed Catholics to sing along.
I got a catholic block
Inside my head
I let it go to work
Bring it all back home
It serves you right
And I can motor down
You got to earn your freedom
Get it on my own
I just live forever
There just is no end
I just trust the oppression
Like I trust your friends
After that, there’s a longish instrumental break, with both guitars ripping it up around the lightspeed rhythm section of Steve Shelley — who had made his bones in a hardcore band called the Crucifucks (speaking of Catholic blocks) — and Kim Gordon, who also gets off a terrifying scream at the end of the second verse.
I got a catholic block
It’s around my head
I got a catholic block
And it’s blood orange red
I got a catholic block
Do you like to fuck?
I got a catholic block
I guess I’m out of luck
That scream, both punctuating and overshadowing Moore’s confession of “I guess I’m out of luck” always surprises and kinda terrifies me no matter how many times I hear it, especially when I start wondering about the context: is she screaming for him — trying to vocalize his pain — or at him, like she’s saying “get over it already”?
After that, the band rips it up even more, before breaking down, and — driven by Lee Ranaldo’s acoustic (!?!) guitar — glides gently to the end.
“(I Got a) Catholic Block”
“(I Got a) Catholic Block” live in 1990
“(I Got a) Catholic Block” live in 2004
“(I Got a) Catholic Block” live in France, 2005
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