Phoebe Killdear and the Short Straws – Fade Out Line. This is my favorite version so far…

I’ve been obsessed by Phoebe Killdear for days. I didn’t know they made rock ‘n’ roll chicks like her any more. Powerful, badass. She puts me in mind of singers like Patti Smith, Danielle Dax, even Diamanda Galas, though she’s way more accessible than any of those.

Phoebe Killdear and the Short Straws – Highway Birds (live in Paris). Very psychedelic version. They would have fit in very well at Psych Fest in Austin.

Innerquake from Phoebe Killdear and the Short Straws has been in constant rotation. That album has totally hooked me. It seems “Fade Out Line” was an international hit 12 years ago and I somehow missed it. Anyway it was new to me. When you get to be my age, 12 years is still recent history. The whole album is a banger.

I don’t know if she’s still working with the Short Straws, but I really enjoy watching their mesmerizing live performances. “Fade Out Line” really resonates. It describes a feeling I think most of us have these days.

Phoebe Killdear and the Shift – Dream B

The Piano’s Playing the Devil’s Tune fromfeatures Maria Medeiros (Bruce Willis’ wife in Pulp Fiction, is what I would call esoteric music. Right up my alley. Spoken word poetry, unsettling and hallucinatory.

More recently she’s been working with Melanie Pain a project called Kill the Pain. So far I’m digging the self-titled album, which is very catchy and a lot more upbeat than the other Killdear works I mentioned.

Kill the Pain – Zig Zag. This one reminds me a lot of Talking Heads. Styles on the rest of the album are pretty all over the place.