BSPH: Adam Ant - Red Scab

"Red Scab" is a song by the great British punk performer Adam Ant. It was released in 1980 as a b-side to his biggest hit "Goody Two Shoes". However, the song itself dates back to late 70's when it was performed live with Adam and the Ants. It is a hard-edged song that bounces like a ball. On one hand, it is relatively straightforward hard rock stomper. But on the other, it is incredibly subversive borderline pathological insight into a sick mind. And doesn't stop in the middle - it manages to go far beyond to the unknown. And that's where things get really scary.

Throughout the song, Adam Ant wails like a lusty animal choking on longing and wounding himself to get through it while festering the surroundings. He is legitimately scary to listen to.

From the musical standpoint it is barebones hard rock stomp. Stylistically, it is very reminiscent of Cactus hard hitting rockers. Sound-wise, "Red Scab" is more akin to Killing Joke output than refurbished joyful new wave styling of 1980 Adam Ant.

The arrangement is impeccable in its glorious transmission of menace. The song is built around a simple chord progression augmented with a stomping stumbling beat. It is very intimidating. Slight swing in the beat adds a little bit of sticky macabre to it. This groove is eeriely intimidating - like a swinging chain of the back street fairy in the boots. Add to that incredibly hard hitting cymbals and you get sound of impending mayhem rolling out.

The riffs blast out like thunder and lightning. They slide and slash through the tense air of the song. The song picks up the tempo in second part and gradually turns into maniacal straigtened mambo with tenacious blank stare. This part is reminiscent of early The Stooges only it is stuck on the loop repeating one pattern over and over again. It plays an edge game with the void and it the very end it manages to cause it to erupts. Which ends in a whimper. The song goes faster and faster until it just falls apart.

The lyrics are strangely effective combination of blues sleazy abstractness of Willie Dixon and Arthur Rimbaud dissociated disjointed imagery that comes together in a punch when you think about it. The whole narrative is a soliloquy of a man of passions who manifests his attitude and declares his intention. It is raw and torn apart pieces of images. There is something about wanting to find a girl with a gun so that she could blow his brain off. There is constant reminder of red scabs all over the place. "Red scab" chorus comes onto the song like an invasion of grasshoppers. It covers everything with its regurgitating shade. After two verses, it completely takes over the song and drives it off the cliff.

Overall, "Red Scab" is one nasty love song covered in mercilessly grinding, ferocious beats. This song is so raw it actually bleeds sleaze. From the very first moments you realize this song is out for blood. It is one of those songs that takes no prisoners and hits you and hits you and hits you until you just pass out senseless and absolutely pummeled to the smithereens.