the Joy that is Non-Sequitur Sound Effects in Songs
As y’all may have gathered, I take music pretty seriously. Well, very very seriously actually. But i also completely love when songs or bands exhibit a sense of humor; where a dedication to craft and to silliness are both on display.
And that, friends, is why i love inappropriate sound effects in songs. See, if there’s some weird janky wiggle in an Akron/Family or a Grandaddy or a Mount Eerie song, that’s not particularly surprising. These bands use sound (in awesome good beautiful ways) as a basic element of their palette. I’m talking about songs/bands who pluck down a lone oddity into an otherwise straight forward song.
The crudest, most hamfisted and perhaps funniest example i came up with is from the Halo Bender‘s first record God Don’t Make No Junk. The chorus of Don’t Touch My Bikini has this awesome cartoon spring sound, brilliant in that it pans right to left first and then back. Comedy gold.
I have personal connection to the next two. As a teenager driving aimlessly around Detroit and the burbs, Mark, Rob, Mike, Renee and i would belt these sound effects out in unison and then giggle uncontrollably afterward. Like the Halo Benders, The Flaming Lips’ Turn It On radio swoop is not so much a non-sequitur but still cracks me up. When we were driving Mark’s broke ass no heat car from Boston to Detroit in late December one year, hollering woo-woo-woo along with Pavement‘s 5 - 4 = Unity is pretty much the only way we staved off frostbite.
The strangest example of this that i could think of is from The Breeder‘s Off You. This is certainly the most poignant hopeful/miserable song Kim Deal has ever written. It is gorgeous and depressing and features a completely inappropriate Moog swoop! Curious and awesome.
And lastly, Neva Dinova‘s Yellow Datsun does this perfectly goofy sound effect and vocal production move that is the oft-mentioned cherry atop a super yummy indie-folk cake.
I dunno what’s wrong with me, but I can not get enough of this stuff. I’ve been completely cracking up the entire time trying to write this entry. Anybody have any suggestion of other awkward perfect sound effects in indie rock? (or in classic rock, ‘cos that’d probably be more funny!)