Anything Could Happen - The Clean

Anything Could Happen - The Clean
2:37
Boodle Boodle Boodle, 1981
Written by David Kilgour, Hamish Kilgour, and Robert Scott

The Clean is another New Zealand band, a pillar of the Dunedin sound, like the Bats (bassist Robert Scott was also the guitarist and singer for the Bats).  This song has a ragged, raw indie sound. It's lo-fi, DIY, and ramshackle, informed by the Velvet Underground.  A thumping, slightly out-of-phase bass line holds the center while the hi-hat drags just behind the beat, giving the whole thing a stuttering, lurching feel that bands like the Fall would take and roughen even further.  Lyrically, it alternates an optimistic, Buddhistic chorus with verses full of confusion, mixed signals, hypocrisy, and the brittle nonsense of social authority.