Bonus Playlist: 🕸️🕷️Arachno-musica🎸

A sticky web of spidery sonics -- from the 1960s to the 2020s.

Photo by Jason Gardner on Unsplash

In my last newsletter, I promised a spider-themed playlist/post featuring some of rock ‘n’ roll’s most creepy, slithery songs, and that’s what you’re getting here.

I thought it might take some deep research to come up with a full list of tunes featuring our 8-legged friends, but it turns out there’s more than plenty to choose from.

My criteria:

• I did not include any nursery rhymes (no “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or variations therein).

• No themes from any Spiderman movies, TV shows, or animated series. (Not even the excellent Ramones’ cover of the cartoon theme.)

• No Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. I love me some Bowie (read my review of 2022 Moonage Daydream documentary here), but none of the songs have the word ‘spider’ in them.

• Spider-named bands and artists do not count. There was an excellent R&B/doo-wop group in the 1950s named The Spiders. I do not include them.

• I could make an entire playlist of just ‘black widow’ songs. I’ll have to save those for next year.

My one rule for this playlist is that each song must have the word “spider” in the title. Though, like most rules, they are made to be broken. I allowed one spider-less title entry to skirt my stringent criteria. When you see which one it is, you will agree it needed inclusion here.

Like with my previous playlist posts, at the bottom will be a link to access the full playlist on YouTube, as well as a Spotify playlist. Or just click the words in the previous sentence to go right to the playlists.

So, did I miss any essential spider songs? Let me know in the comments. I’d also love to know if any songs you hadn’t heard before stayed with you.

1. The Claypool Lennon Delirium — Boris the Spider

You were expecting The Who? This John Entwistle masterpiece would indeed be a worthy opening track, but I think Les Claypool and Sean Lennon have given more than lip service to The Who’s 1966 classic. And if you haven’t heard The CLD, both of their albums are brilliant psychedelic sonic adventures.

2. The Rolling Stones — The Spider and the Fly

Staying in the ’60s (from the Stones 1965 album Out of Our Heads) for song number two. I hadn’t seen this great video of the world’s longest-running rock and roll band¹performing this bluesy classic.

3. Uriah Heep — Spider Woman

We are moving ahead to 1973 for the next track. Uriah Heep is one of those bands that I’ve liked but have never given proper sonic attention to. I dig this groovy, hard-rockin’ tune. I don’t recall ever hearing it before putting together this playlist. If any reader has a recommendation for an essential Uriah Heep album to buy, leave it in the comments.

4. They Might Be Giants — Spider

I told the story of this song in my last post. If you didn’t read it, you can click here.

5. The Cure — Lullaby

I have to thank

Mark Nash

for suggesting this one. He writes the excellent newsletter,

Joy in the Journey

.

This is the rule-breaking song on the playlist without the word “Spider” in the title.

But I had to include it, as it’s all about spiders, and the video is especially creepy, with Robert Smith whisper-singing in his PJs from his bed. It’s from The Cure’s brilliant 1989 album, Disintegration.

These lyrics adamantly cry out, “Creepy Halloween.”

On candy-stripe legs the spiderman comes
Softly through the shadow of the evening sun
Stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead
Looking for the victim shivering in bed

6. No Doubt — Spiderwebs

This is from No Doubt’s 1995 Tragic Kingdom album. I think it’s their best, and “Spiderwebs” is a perfect example of a band at the peak of their powers. Apparently, Gwen Stefani got the idea for the song after a romantic suitor recited bad poetry to her.

7. Hoodoo Gurus — Mind the Spider

I’m a humongous Hoodoo Gurus fan, so I was thrilled to be reminded that they had recorded a spider song for their 1996 In Blue Cave album. “Mind the Spider” is a head-banger with a definitive ’60s psych-rock energy.

8. Cage the Elephant — Spiderhead

It’s hard to call Cage the Elephant underrated, as they have headlined festivals and have a large following. But unlike many bands of their era (mid-2000s) quick to jump on the Strokes bandwagon, Cage the Elephant is the real deal. This acoustic version of “Spiderhead” below shows that the song is just as powerful (if not more so) stripped down. The electric version is in the playlist.

9. Of Montreal — Ira’s Brief Life as a Spider (story interlude)

What starts off as an upbeat banjo-led tune, turns into a surreal spoken word story told by Of Montreal leader and vocalist Kevin Barnes. At least, I think it’s told by Kevin. I couldn’t find confirmation.

10. Benee - Evil Spider

I discovered Benee while doing my online Spider song search. I could say my Spidey-sense brought her into my life, and maybe it is true, but I think it’s just dumb luck.

I listened to dozens of spider songs I hadn’t heard before putting this list together, most of them terrible, but this one made me giddily happy. I’m gonna have to look more deeply into the Benee music catalog, as this hits me in all the right spots.

11. Jim Stafford — Spiders and Snakes

I can’t believe I was unfamiliar with Jim Stafford before putting this post together. Well, we all have our musical blind spots, and I’m happy to have one less now.

I’m including two versions of “Spiders and Snakes” here, as I found a live version on YouTube from Dolly Parton’s variety TV show “Dolly” from back in 1976. This version is quite different than the album version, much creepier, and downright disturbing — especially with Dolly pretending to be a little girl licking a giant lollipop. It’s kind of spoken rather than sung, and maybe partly improvised, which gives it a sort of discomfiting energy, like an accident on the side of the road you can’t take your eyes off of.

12. Slipknot — Spiders

I will admit that I’m not really much of a Slipknot fan. I like heavy rock music, but I’ve found them to be melodically suspect. And the masks thing — after The Residents and GWAR — I find it a bit unoriginal. This song, though, I dig it quite a bit.

13. The Boy Least Likely To — I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes

The Boy Least Likely To is an English indie pop duo, composed of composer/multi-instrumentalist Pete Hobbs and lyricist/singer Jof Owen. They are one of those bands that I have been aware of for the past couple of decades but knew very little about. What I do know I just looked up. They’ve had songs in over a dozen TV shows and commercials, so maybe, to complete the band name’s sentence, I’m “the boy least likely to remember a song by them.” Unless it has spiders in the title.

14. The Mommyheads — Spiders

Brooklyn-based power-pop band, The Mommyheads, has been putting out smart, melodic music for more than 30 years. Their third album, 1994’s Flying Suit, might be my favorite. “Spiders” features some web-like guitar play and gorgeous vocals from Adam Elk.

15. Bo Burnham — Spider

Bo Burnham, if you aren’t familiar, is a comedian, songwriter, film director, and actor. His brilliant 2021 Netflix special “Inside” is a must-see if you haven’t. He captured the mentally struggling, claustrophobic, energy of the time of the pandemic better than any other type of media I’d seen or heard.

This Spider skit/song does have profanity, in case that is something you prefer to avoid.

16. Elf Power — Spidereggs

Elf Power, one of my favorite bands of the Elephant 6 label/collective (Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Of Montreal), is still releasing new music 28 years after their debut in 1995. I’ve always felt like I was the only person I knew who listened to them. Even my alternative rock friends were unaware of Elf Power. (And they are not to be confused with Elf, the early hard rock band led by Ronnie James Dio in the early ‘70s.)

“Spidereggs,” from their self-titled 10th album, has a bit of a Beck vibe. There is also a connection to Sparklehorse (who have a song with spider in the title, but it’s a one minute instrumental so I left it out), in that both bands worked regularly with Vic Chestnutt and wrote tribute songs to their late friend.

17. Wilco — Spiders (Kidsmoke)

I personally prefer the more experimental side of Wilco. This 10-plus minute epic, “Spiders (Kidsmoke),” from their A Ghost is Born album (the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Yankee Hotel Foxtrot), finds the band in a decidedly groovy, trippy space and time. It is the perfect ending to a weberific playlist.

Here are the Spotify and YouTube playlists of the above 17 tracks, for your enjoyment!

• I know many of these songs might be new to you (several were new to me!). Did any creep into your ears in a good way?

• What spidery songs did I leave out?

• Have you seen the Bo Burnham special “Inside” on Netflix, which he filmed and released during the pandemic? If not, I highly recommend it. Also, his directorial feature film debut, 8th Grade, is fantastic.

As always, thanks for reading and for listening!

Steve

1. I’m sure there are bands still around that began before the Stones, but how many released best-sellers in 2023?