Sometimes, when I’m in a really bad and evil mood (like I am now, post-Election Day, for example, or after the Yankees win something), I’ll get an urge to walk around my the city with my headphones on and stare daggers into strangers, letting my hatred of the world around me radiate like a black cloud around me. I find that this skulking actually helps me relieve my tension to some degree, though the neighbors might not say “Hello” to me for a few days after and small children tend to run away. In any case, these three tracks are prime examples of the sort of tunes that capture that exquisite mood of loathing and disgust. Enjoy!

The Cramps– Human Fly, [Gravest Hits]

Proof positive that you can create all sorts of tangible atmosphere without a bass guitar. Early Cramps records sound fabulous, but the subject matter tends to be a bit cartoonish. “Human Fly” however, is filled with a very real sense of self-loathing (“I don’t like the ride / So push the pesticide”) and creepy sexual come-ons (“I’m an unzipped fly”). All that and a killer reference to ? and the Mysterians. Lux Interior’s “reborn maggot using germ warfare” is a bit like Iggy’s streetwalkin’ cheetah, but scarier, more vile, and altogether more believable. After all, you’re far more likely to encounter buzzing black flies on filthy city streets than exotic jungle cats.

[visit The Cramps’ website here, buy Gravest Hits here]

The Damned– These Hands, [Machine Gun Etiquette]

I bought a German vinyl pressing of the Damned’s seminal Machine Gun Etiquette in 1984 from the Record Den in Great Northern Mall, back when they still stocked a bunch of import wax. I was 12, and this song, which closed the first side, really grabbed me—in fact, it scared the hell out of me, the spectre of childhood fear rearing its ugly little head one last time. It sounds a little cheesy now (though I still love that organ), but that final bit with the footsteps and the short exhaled breath of surprise and Dave Vanian’s sinister chuckle still gives me the chills every time I hear it. I’m sure I’m not the only kid out there who always had a distrust and slight fear of circus clowns. The tragic story of Pagliacci turned on its head and taken to a logical and brutal end.

[visit The Damned’s website here, buy Machine Gun Etiquette here]

Two Lone Swordsmen– Punches and Knives, [From the Double Gone Chapel]

This track sort of just oozes out of the speakers, like some bubbling black gunk from the sewer. A sordid tale of sex and violence and all of those sort of things, delivered by the inimitable Andrew Weatherall. Who knew he had such expressive vocals in him all these years? While any number of tracks from the brilliant From The Double Gone Chapel might fit this general theme, the waltzing vocal and menacing pace make this one particularly conducive to wandering into dark alleys with bad things in mind. It even has a bit of a sinister limp to it.

[visit the Two Lone Swordsmen website here, buy From the Double Gone Chapel here, read Todd Hutlock’s Stylus review of From the Double Gone Chapel here]