I have listened to Ketamine Cat’s “Love Songs” several times this week. At the close of each listen, I am left to scratch my head and wonder why I didn’t know this artist prior to the new Ball of Wax. Levi has been building what may be the greatest network of artists (independent and otherwise) for 13 years, and every volume of BoW is guaranteed to bring something not heard before.
“Global Warming fuckfuckfuck” fits with the title of the KC album from which it comes as much as with the unofficial title of Ball of Wax 53, “The Earth Won’t Die, We Will.” It’s a love song and it concerns death. It also concerns miracles, potential energy, and Mount Rainier. It’s hummable and its arrangement is so beautifully stripped down that everything-but-the-kitchen-sink artists such as myself curse our inability to trust in sonic economy: you get a guitar, a plaintive vocal, a dirty analog synthesizer, and—after the meat of the lyrics has been served—a snippet of sample from Richard Linklater’s Waking Life, and you’ve got a damn good song.
A few words about that plaintive vocal: I’m always moved by just the right amount of affectation in an artist’s voice, from Air Supply to Robert Smith to Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry to Jason Lytle (still a big fan of Wayne Coyne, but sometimes his voice grates on my sensibilities). Ketamine Cat’s voice falls somewhere between Ryan Sambol (The Strange Boys) and overacting in a school play. I don’t mean that as an insult—it suits this music and it’s oddly endearing. “Global Warming fuckfuckfuck” is an excellent track and a fine addition to the Ball of Wax library.