Album: Wild Planet
Year: 1980
Their debut got all the critical acclaim and Cosmic Thing got all of the sales, but my all-time favorite album from the first band to come roaring out of Athens, GA is their second one, Wild Planet.
While Wild Planet didn’t have the iconic classic singles of the debut, it was more consistent overall, playing down the novelty songs while amping up the dance grooves. Maybe I was prepped by the debut – sometimes you have to get used to something you’ve never heard before – but, on this record, I loved the non-nonsense sparseness of their sound.
And nowhere did it sound better than on “Dirty Back Road,” which is all Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson singing in harmonies over a Ricky Wilson guitar that was all forward motion and a bass (or “bass” as the case may be) groove that was complete lockstep with Keith Strickland’s driving driving driving drums.
The overall effect was so trance-inducing that it took me decades to realize that this was a car-metaphor fucksong cross between “Highway Star,” and “Divine Hammer” – but wayyy dirtier. The only words I ever caught were “reckless driving on dirty back road” and I took those literally.
“Dirty Back Road” performed in 1980
My Certain Songs Playlist on Spotify
This month, on Musical Moments to Die For: secrets, influences, and secret influences, all book-ended by the two best bands to ever come from Athens, GA.