Archive for May 25th 2011

"Uh, PJ, could you take just a couple steps back from the camera?"


I could post any number of PJ Harvey songs here, as she’s had so many high points throughout her career, but today I’m going with “Dress,” the first single from her 1992 debut album, Dry. It’s the song that first introduced me to her music — it immediately grabbed me when I heard it on the radio. It has all the qualities I’ve come to appreciate about her songs: raw energy, sparse instrumentation, a powerful beat, slinky singing, and it’s pretty darn catchy to boot. I’ll go so far as to say that PJ is one of the all-time great women in rock…actually, there’s no reason not to simply say one of the all-time greats, period — man or woman. If you aren’t familiar with her, you really need to check her out. (She also puts on one heck of a live show.)