BLONDE REDHEAD is so good you can't describe them without sounding like an asshole or a music writer, whether what you say is negative or positive. Seeing them live is almost as exciting as having incredible sex. But you wouldn't turn to the person you've just made love to and say something like, "That was great, but the way you phrased the vocal line didn't quite gel with what the guitar was doing." Nor would you want to play all obsequious, as in "You're really wonderful... not unlike God." Can you understand my dilemma?

I was thinking about what to say, and it happened to be cold outside, so I thought, "Well, Blonde Redhead gives heat." And then I thought, "like a hot little engine." That felt sort of on, because their songs give momentum, they get me revved up, and they're all so goddamned hot I'd like to eat them.

When I saw them last they were in black, matching outfits with engineer-style caps, so I thought, "maybe they're not just a little engine, but the little engine. The one that goes, I think I can.... Only they're a rock band." I started to think about their tight, driving, jerky song structures, and heard the little engine in my head. The way their energetic songs go from being quiet and meanderingly dissonant into huge, frenzied chord progressions feels like a furious climb up some great rock and roll mountain... or something. And then I thought, "Now this is just stupid. Minus a couple words, it's less like an engine motif than a stupid metaphor about sex, which is where I started from anyway." So I decided to mix the motif, making it "Live Sex on Wheels."

Watching them was like having an erotic dream played out before me to a soundtrack comprised of the music of Blonde Redhead. At some point Kazu's hair came down. She let out a scream that was impossible, and Amadeo was beside her, keeping time with focus and breath. The room was so full of their sound and energy I lost myself.

See? Blonde Redhead is so good that you can't describe them without sounding like an asshole or a music writer.

Blonde Redhead is One Hot Little Engine

Blonde Redhead is One Hot Little Engine