Week 3: Deceit

8. THIS HEAT - Deceit
Rough Trade, 1981

This Heat have said that this record is primarily about the possibility of nuclear war and the accompanying sense of fear and tension felt by human beings the world over; rarely has any band been able to channel the zeitgeist so directly, and with such musical ingenuity at that. Charles Hayward and co. begin this weirdo beardo album with the hypnotic "Sleep," which implores the listener to "Sleep, sleep, sleep/Go to sleep," as a caring mother might to a nervous child, except in this case we're all terrified little fucks and old enough to know sleep won't help at all, and This Heat knows this too but maybe we can all pretend together that it might. Later in this beautifully oblique record, on "S.P.Q.R.," This Heat sounds a bit like U2 if Bono were taking acid instead of God-pills, and the results are resplendent. On "Cenotaph" we're told "History repeats itself," and there's a lot of talk about wars past and dead civilians over a mesmerizing dance beat and some atonal guitar chords before a chorus of sorts which brings it all together for a legitimately pretty few bars, then back again. Which ain't a terrible metaphor for this beast of an album: perhaps after all there is true beauty to be found in the terrible, and pure horror in the good.

STREAM: This Heat - Various Tracks