“I Found that Essence Rare” – Gang of Four
(Words/music: Gang of Four, available on Entertainment!, EMI 1979)

A lot of music, especially in the punk/post-punk vein, revolves around a cycle of tension and release.  Sometimes, the music creates the tension with fast, pounding rhythms that implore the audience to find release through relentless pogo-ing or slam dancing.  Sometimes, the music itself builds in tension throughout the song, waiting for that moment of release.  This isn’t unique to punk, though, as even my basic recollection of music theory remembers talking about resolving chords back to the tonic – the home base where the tones are exactly what the ear expects to hear.  Perhaps we’re drawn to tension-filled music because it makes us appreciate the resolution that much more.  Maybe we just like being wound up sometimes.

On “I Found that Essence Rare,” Gang of Four winds everything so tight that there’s little room for anything else.  The guitars forge ahead devoid of any reverb; rather than letting the notes ring out and dissolve, they quickly forge ahead like knives chipping away piece by piece.  Jon King’s words take a similar action, cutting into bourgeoisie culture of politics, tabloids, and fashion with direct, focused observations.  Something strange happens amidst this tension – a groove develops.  While funk musicians like to talk about getting “loose” when laying down a groove, Gang of Four achieves their unique groove as a sort of nervous twitch, like muscles that spasm slightly when held tense long enough.  It’s a sort of claustrophobic, paranoid trance that manages to have some spring in it.  There’s even a drum break in the bridge (granted, it’s more Mission of Burma than Parliament)

The only glimmer of release from this tightly-wound dissection of consumer culture comes in the chorus.  Appropriately, the chorus shifts from observations of the outside world to a first person statement – there’s refuge from the demonic outside world within oneself, but it’s fleeting at best.  Those same guitars come crashing through and bring back more images of hollow politicians and trash journalism.  Then, it’s back to the nerves.

Finally, the onslaught stops, but there’s no real resolution.  We’re wound up and dancing (twitching?) along, only to have the groove swept out from under our feet.  Granted, it seems appropriate from a song with such a skeptical view of the world.

More on Gang of Four: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm