City of Caterpillar - S/T

This is the second post of my best records of the decade series. I think I'll have one or two more and then back to new music. This record should not be new to anyone, but if you haven't heard it download it and then go buy it, it's absolutely essential. Sorry about the deep personal stuff, but everyone knows what this sounds like, so I thought I'd explain why I like it so much.

For years I lived with some really horrible anxiety issues...I never knew what brought it on, whether it was depression or just being the product of a fear based society. I'd lie awake at night terrified of things I had no control over. Would the world collide with something and we'd all be dead by morning? Would my body forget involuntary actions and I'd stop breathing in my sleep? Looking back on it now it's all incredibly silly and I have to laugh about it, but it was real and very scary when I was younger. It's a strange way to live, always unsure of your sanity. I still to this day don't understand how I made it through high school and college.

City of Caterpillar was a band I discovered during this time, and in all honesty probably did not positively contribute to my mindset. Their essential self titled full length is the soundtrack to a panic attack. It's nervous and twitchy. It makes you gasp for air while being suffocated under feedback and noise. It's cold and distant yet incredibly abrasive and confrontational. I cannot think of another record that makes me feel the way City of Caterpillar does, and while listening to it today I felt my hand shake a bit and my breath get shorter. It's absurdly melodramatic...but in a way so is this record.
~AB

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