The Dirty Projectors - Six Pack
The Dirty Projectors, whom I have the privilege of seeing tonight in Wellington for the first time, made one of the best, most jarring, indie rock albums of 2009 with Bitte Orca. However, before they became the polarizing band they are today, they created an even more ambitious (pretentious?) album, Rise Above. Rise Above was inspired by Dave Longstreth’s desire to re-imagine and recreate the album Damaged by Black Flag, completely from memory having not heard it in over fifteen years. While the end result would never be called a perfect reconstruction, not that it was ever intended to be, it definitely makes for a fascinating listen. “Six Pack” is one of Black Flag’s most throw-away tracks on Damaged, with lyrics about spending all your money on shitty beer, which can be found here. The Dirty Projectors manage to completely transform the tone of the song, making the lyrics seem to focused on the sad reality of alcoholism instead of the carefree, party-time atmosphere that filled the original.
