This writing was originally placed on this article for The Dissolve, but has been relocated here for reasons of completion and for ease of tracking…
Where do you go as a band if you want to produce an album that is even darker and forceful than a record like Dry? Why, you go to Steve Albini, probably the most famous producer of late 80’s/90’s rock (Except maybe Butch Vig, though I prefer Albini) with his main credit at the time being the sounds on the Pixies classic Surfa Rosa (which he himself doesn’t like; go figure). All the criticism I’ve read seems to have some bizarre vendetta against his production. But to me his contribution was just to enhance the band’s sound that was already there on the previous record. My main evidence for this is the track “Man-Size Sextet”, the only track on the album that is not credited as produced by Albini, and a sound that indicates that left to their own devices producer Head and the PJ Harvey trio would have made a much different record.
But I’m pleased that this was what we got, because Rid Of Me is an outstanding record, with performances that ride the line between insanity and dangerous sexuality, a philosophy articulated well by the cover (which I know is water, but I like to pretend is gasoline as per the “Man-Size” lyric “Douse hair with gasoline/Set it light and set it free,”). This record goes closer than its predecessor to the realm of Blues Rock, and as a result reveals more of that Captain Beefheart influence Harvey herself talks about (though definitely Safe as Milk; Trout Mask Replica is one of those records you can only really be an influence in spirit). Also at times the vocals go close to the growls of Howling Wolf, especially on the song “Legs”.
It’s an odd artefact, in that in its attempt to deliberately more complex and distancing record, they actually make one that also has more “songs” than Dry. But that is just a perfect illustration of its confidence; Rid of Me is tied to a sound that is both linked strongly to the 90’s, and yet still fresh and authentic in a way that many others of this style just don’t achieve. If I found “Hair” from Dry quite emasculating, Rid of Me as a whole take man’s collective balls and doesn’t refuse to hand them back to you at the end.
Albini would go on immediately after this to record Nirvana’s In Utero, one of my all-time favourite albums. But having now listened to Rid of Me, and learning Cobain also loved Dry, it’s hard not to notice how much of its sound is taken directly from Harvey. Rid of Me’s influence was as immediate and as visceral as the record itself.
What do you think though?
“Rid of Me”: This is a song that take the 90’s dynamic changes to its most extreme (off the top of my head only Pixies “Tame” comes close in terms of contrast). Lyrically its like the grungy, female equivalent of “Psycho Killer”, and as well as that amazing guitar tone the song is made by those Beefheatian cries of “Lick my legs, I’m on fire, lick my legs of desire,” contrasted with what I believe to be high organ notes. The worst kind of catchy song to sing on the bus.
“Missed”: Probably the closest thing a traditional “pretty” alternative rock tune on the album. This has what I believe to be Harvey’s smoothest voice on the record (with maybe the exception of the ending). Props to the percussion on this song for such a constantly varied sound and syncopated rhythms.
“Legs”: If this is not my favourite song off the album, it is definitely my favourite vocal performance by Harvey. There are moments that are so off-kilter in her screeches that you get the sense that, if the music just abruptly stopped that performance would still be going on. It’s derangement extends to the use of string instruments that really fill out the second half of the track. “I might as well be dead, but I could kill you instead” is pretty much this album’s mission statement.
“Rub ‘Till it Bleeds”: Anyone else get a “You Know Your Right” vibe from the intro? This is tied for my favourite song off the album along with the opening and closing tracks. The longest song off the album, it also has my favourite guitar tone, from the variations of the theme to the use of feedback. Another shout out to those off to those drums with its off kilter fills.
“Hook”: Not just I feel I should have too, but I have to give a mention to the bass on this track, as until the minute mark Vaughan is doing the un-celebrated job of making the cohesion of sound between the drums and guitar. But those slides up and down at about the minute mark are incredibly effective. This might be my least favourite off the album, if only it holds on that one – for a lack of a better word – “Hook” a little too long for my liking. Still excellent though.
“Man-Size Sextet”: This sounds like nothing else on the album, and I kind of adore it. I get the feeling that whatever inspired the avant-garde composition of this sextet version of “Man-Size” is also what inspired Johnny Greenwood in his compositions for Bodysong and There Will Be Blood (it was probably Penderecki for both). You lose the sense of the “song” composition in this version, but for something this hauntingly abrasive how could you not?
“Highway ’61 Revisited”: Is Bob Dylan the most covered artist of our collective lifetime? Whatever though, I haven’t many bad Dylan covers, and this one is extraordinary in that “All Along the Watchtower” sound-nothing-like-the-original way. Where Dylan’s version is one of the most tightly composed songs off that album (those whistles!), this one sounds like it could go off the rails at any moment. In a good way!
“50 ft. Queenie”: There seems to be somewhat of a change in the second half of this album, starting from here the songs get more euphoric and less abrasive. And also inherently funnier; this song is hilarious. The lyrics are the right kind of “fuck you” to cock-rock that is always appreciated. Short and Sweet, one that leaves you wishing for more but in a way that feels short changed. I can see why this was the single from the album.
“Yuri-G”: Somewhat structurally similar to “Rid of Me”, except with less dynamic change and an emphasis on classical instrumentation back. This propulsion from the bass is my second favourite performance of the instrument on this album and what really makes the force of the song come through. Also Yuri-G sounds like Eulogy. I hope I’m not reading too much into that.
“Man-Size”: I might prefer the Sextet version more, but this better suited to the aesthetic of this album. Harvey uses the thinner, higher end of her register here which I really loved, and I particularly like the drum as it begins to enter the track, with the syncopated drums that miss beats in a real tension building way.
“Dry”: Just as “Sheer Heart Attack” does not appear on Queen’s album of the same name, “Dry” appears on this. Why do artists do this? Oh well, the sliding blues guitars sound better suited to this record anyway. Next to “Legs” the variation of dynamics from Harvey makes this my second favourite vocal performance from her on Rid of Me.
“Me-Jane”: The most bass heavy track on this album just so happens to be my favourite bass performance from the album; who da thunk it? Harvey working again in the higher levels of her vocal register, by the middle of the song the bass and guitars meld so seamlessly together that they give the low registers a dark vibration with which the vocals attempt to escape.
“Snake”: I previously liked the dynamics of “Rid of Me” to “Tame”. But this is the “Tame” of the album, in that it is so intense that you feel like a version any longer would simply tire you out. Harvey roughest vocal, on occasion sounding like she has been hurt by the animal in question. Those shrieks at the end only add more anxiety to an already anxious penultimate track.
“Ecstasy”: The track that is closest to 60’s blues rock off the album, with those rolling drum fills and sliding guitars creating an incredibly aggressive sound throughout. Its almost schizophrenic change in tempo means that it able to take its one amazing sound and carry it throughout pretty much the entire track. PJ Harvey sure knows which song to end on.
PJ Harvey Album Rankings
- Rid of Me
- Dirt