Song of the Day - Addicted to Placebos

Today's song of the day comes from my favourite band, Placebo. Placebo are a 3 piece Alternative Rock band who have been going for 20 years. They recently released their seventh studio album, Loud Like Love, which like all of their other albums reached top 20 in the UK album charts. Placebo are known for their androgynous themes and drug and sex based lyrics. Lead singer Brian Molko is vocal about his drug use but claims it is all in the past, but you can see the influence in many of their songs.

Today's song is particularly angst-ridden, hence the title Teenage Angst:

So What's So Good?

I shouldn't have to tell you, but I will anyway because otherwise this blog would be a little bit more pointless than it was before. An electric guitar starting riff that merges into a slick drumbeat and Molko's distinctive vocals give the song a strong opening, which it carries through the verse. Molko's voice fits the angsty theme perfectly, though I can't help but feel that it's slightly tongue-in-cheek - a self-parody, if you will. 

Your view on the song, lyrically, probably depends on your feeling. If you were feeling down you might see it is describing your feelings perfectly. That's why it would be easy to see this song as 'emo', similarly to Radiohead's Creep, which is an attempt at mocking whiny, self-designated 'emos', but was instead seen as an anthem to the outcasts that he was trying to mock. However, I'm not sure Molko is attempting to mock them in any malicious manner, but instead look back at the way he was and mock himself. 

The chorus is based on something Molko's mother said to him - 'As soon as you pop out of the womb you start to detoriate'. Whilst a very depressing and pessimistic way to look at the world, it holds some truth. Molko's paraphrases it as 'Since I was born I started to decay', which whether or not is true angst or self-mocking, happens to be one of my favourite lines of any song.

Placebo are a band that are unique who bind together dark themes with love and drugs to make effortlessly powerful yet simultaneously fragile music. Molko's voice is like marmite but personally, I think his voice is absolute perfection.