4. Shudder To ThinkPony Express Record

After Nothingface, I wondered where Voivod could go next. They did Angel Rat, which I love, but when I heard Pony Express Record, I thought, "Ah, that’s the next one." And I think of Spiderland by Slint as part of the same thing. But where Nothingface is really squared off, Pony Express Record is just really sexy and swaggery, and sounds so big and confident. I often think this is the greatest rock record ever made.

Again, it lives in this strange, strange world, so much on its own terms. Every second of that album is relevant. There’s no spare fat. You get that snare hit and it’s straight in with these clanging, dissonant chords, and then that first line that [Craig Wedren] sings… You know straight away that these guys are not fucking about. You don’t hit that note by accident. This isn’t that bogus blues default. It’s sexy. Who knew that clanging, dissonant guitars could be sultry and sexy?