5ingles

Kimya Dawson
"Walk Like Thunder"

White Hills

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• Aesop Rock
• George Taylor
• Kimya Dawson
• Underground Hip-Hop
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

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By the time Aesop Rock turns up for his cameo, you realize that you no longer give a shit about the fact that an Aesop Rock cameo's in the wings—even if it is a succinct, contextually valid cameo—because the utter and totally carpe-diem puerility of "Thunder" has won you over and dropped your heart into your shoes.

It just goes to show: Roaches don't care whether you roll a Schwinn or a Bugatti.

Stop me if you've heard this one before. An earlier incarnation—"The Streets," from 2008's spooky It's After Dark—showcased a more foreboding, less alluring side of the same dirge-like melody and haunting, second-person singular lyric.

A little bit J. Mascis and a little bit "Travelin' Man," elements one doesn't expect to find in East Coast country. There's a lilt in Taylor's voice in the chorus that hints at a yodel as much as a lump in his throat. Some might call this deception; I'd call it art.

Mashed, webbed guitar-clang clamor, like the sounds of a steelworker's toil or the tolling of some ancient bell.