[Chris Lawrence]

Going back to the original topic, "Female Mechanic Now On Duty" has always been a favorite - since the first time I heard it, performed instrumentally on that PBS show in summer '97. I loved the riff and all the wildness around it, Steve's thumping beat, the big one-chord noise break, and then that fractured clean riff with Lee's ring-modulated squawks echoing, a new chord with a new beat, Steve shaking that tiny maraca, and then Thurston shaking the ground with his Blue Box bursts. The tension in that one-note climax builds to a perfect finish.

Then the album came out and Kim played the riff all different. What the..? Yeah, I'm still only slightly less bitter 20 years later...it just takes away from the pounding menace that the live version has and gives it a more laidback feel. I love her vocal, and the rest of the song (including that very climax taken from the PBS show) is perfection.

They never played it live with this alternate rhythm, before or after the album was released, so I've just always found it odd that they went with such a different vibe for the album.

All that said, it's still one of my top go-to songs for sitting outside and listening to music, particularly on a rainy fall day like today. Which leads me to a weird topic - do you segregate SY albums by weather/time of day/etc? My friend and I always had a joke about listening to "Ghost Bitch" walking downtown in the early afternoon, how inappropriate it feels. I definitely link certain albums to certain moods, but some are more versatile than others.

Fuck, shut up!