After a brief detour into the creepiest power-pop song ever written, we’re back on more traditional ground with this one from the Afghan Whigs. They’ve been on my mind lately, as they’ve reunited with all the original members (except for the drummer) for a series of dates (no Austin show yet, alas).
Really, I could have picked any Afghan Whigs song for this series, but this is the one that was stuck in my head today and it’s one of their more plot-oriented songs, so it seemed like a good one to roll with. (And now I’m second-guessing myself. Why not “Miles iz Ded” or “Fountain and Fairfax” or “Going to Town”? Stop it, Trent. Roll with it.)
“Honky’s Ladder” is a dark and rage- and drug-fueled Blaxploitation flick, or maybe Donald Goines set to music. It’s an out of control, or maybe barely controlled, lashing out at everything in general and some poor sucker at the wrong end of a barrel in specific.
I’m a huge fan of this band, and if my ticket from their circa 1992 show at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor wasn’t still packed in a box, you’d better believe I would have scanned it and included it in this post.
The Afghan Whigs – “Honky’s Ladder”
Incidentally, I doubt he remembers me but I hung out with their new drummer a few times about a decade ago when he was playing with a local band. He’s a friend of one of my best friends, who, if I remember right, is the one who introduced him to the band’s music in the first place. Also, a fantastic drummer.
PS: While posting here will still be intermittent, we hope to have some substantive reads up over the coming two weeks.
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