Courtesy of Stereogum.

“I hate that beer commercial lead-guitar shit. This next song is called ‰The War on Drugs Can Suck My Fucking Dick.‰’‰Û

-Mark Kozelek

For the rest of us that love lead-guitar shit, groovy ’80s drums, echoey keys, and Bruce Springsteen, “Under the Pressure‰” was a masterpiece of 2014. The song starts off with reverb and delay, cascading into an early ’80s rock hook, featuring a keyboard melody. 

Then the vocals come in, singing “well the comedown here is easy, like the arrival of a new day,‰” and the delivery is so authentic, like a modern Bob Dylan. Underneath the singing are vastly dense layers of guitars, synths, bass, and even baritone sax. 

The best part of the song is the instrumental middle section where the kick and snare drum lay out, leaving just a hi-hat keeping time while the layers echo in and out, taking you on a long tangent, and you forget about the catchy groove from before. That is, until the drums do the simplest one hit fill to come back in, but it works so well and creates a very powerful moment when the kick and snare get you moving again. This groove is short lived, transitioning to the end which consists of more ambient sonic layering. 

“Under the Pressure‰” takes you on a long journey (almost nine minutes), but you go so many different places and the return to the verse after the middle section was the best musical moment of 2014. Mark Kozelek could never take you on a trip like this.