My first thought on reading the title of this song was, “I know that line.” But no, it couldn’t be any sort of connection to a beloved pop nugget by one of the most important bands of my youth, could it? [This never occurred to me until just now. -ed.] The four hi-hat smacks that call the players to action offer no confirmation, but the jangly-beyond-all-C-86-reason guitars (mandolin? 12-string? Why can’t I place it specifically?) coupled with the off-beat hi-hats and lifted off the ground by a bassline that even I can’t begin to describe without namedropping (and even then, THIS bassline mops the floor with THAT one) tell me that “The One That Makes Me Scream” is not the mascara-laden-faux-goth-pop of yore. Nay, it (dare I say [check your unbridled fanhood at the door, put in your objective eardrums, and stick with me here]) TRANSCENDS by using a line that isn’t found in the lyrics as a grab (worked on me, didn’t it?) and then ever so briefly lifting from that old tune a snippet of melody but then taking it somewhere else—somewhere that still makes melodic sense but accomplishes the emotional descent/ascent with more immediacy. If that isn’t enough to set this song apart, the vocals come in and offer a bit of frustration, a bit of dread, a lot of wonderful “ay-ay-ays” bobbing up and down on the slightest bending of notes, and a by-turns truthful and hopeful aphorism in “Together, we have all we have—together, we might do this thing.” I don’t know what “this thing” is, but against such an ebullient backing, I damn sure know they/we might do it.
Still not enough for you to accept my declaration of transcendence? Fine. Take into consideration that, after three-plus millennia of music (I’m going back to the earliest known “written” music here, since recordings from the ancient world are hard to come by), 70+ years of rock and pop (essentially defining the structures, rhythms, and progressions that have informed all but the purposeful outliers of what we listen to), maybe 42 years of home recording, and roughly 18 years of free and easy accessibility to any uploaded recording at any time, there are really only so many combinations of notes, patterns, timbres, arrangements, effects, et cetera ad infinitum that can be created and used, at least in a way that is aesthetically pleasing to the ears of most listeners in the Western world (I realize this precludes the possibility of an insane variety of excellent music being considered “palatable” and for that I apologize, but I’m trying to make a point here), but an artist can STILL create something that is both NEW and FUN. Anne Mathews certainly has.