Sunday, November 18, 2012

Song of the Day: Suicidal Tendencies, "I Wasn't Meant to Feel This/Asleep at the Wheel"

Suicidal Tendencies are best known for a song about being institutionalized, but this is the song that makes the case that they actually needed it.



ST started as a punk rock band, but by 1992's The Art of Rebellion they were writing two-part, seven-minute psychedelic-metal songs for a major label. By description, "Asleep at the Wheel" should be an embarrassment, but instead it's a genuinely chilling track, with studio effects that recall "I Am the Walrus," and an "ay-ay-ay" rejoinder that will stay in your head for hours. Mike Muir turns out to be a surprisingly good singer, and Robert Trujillo's bass at the forefront suggests the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the start of a bad trip. The Vandals' Josh Freese provides crash cymbal magic here on his way to being one of the America's most in-demand session drummers. Be careful where you sleep tonight.

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