The first time I heard Horrible Odds was on a cassette my friend Leif brought back with him from an extended stint in Chattanooga and Gainesville. He came back from that trip with a ton of mind-blowing stuff, but Horrible Odds stood apart. I could be remembering this through a long-ago buzz, but I don’t recall knowing what the band’s name was for some time. The tape wasn’t labeled, and I didn’t care much. Not one to bother over such trivialities as band names and song titles, “October” became an anthem for that entire year.
Shortly after hearing Leif’s tape, I found myself living in Gainesville. Buddha, the guitar player for Horrible Odds, happened to be a neighbor. One night after a random conversation about found photos, he gave me the first of two vinyl copies of Underground that I own. Incidentally, years later, he gave me my second copy too. The charm, warmth, despair, and hope of this record is unmatched. The only thing that comes close is the Jack Palance Band LP, and that features ¾ of Horrible Odds anyway.
Underground is chock full of relatable emotion, driven by a special kind of reserved power. It’s chaos about to explode but remains contained for sanity’s sake. It’s a soundtrack to the wildness and abandon of our lives but also acts as a voice of reason. It’s telling us that it’s okay to be crazy, because the world is a fucked-up place, and you’re doing pretty good considering the circumstances.
I’d like to share a few of my favorite lyrics:
“You can’t fire us cuz we quit!
We’re not afraid of jail, look at where we live”
“‘Revolution Sound’ on your car stereo
With all the windows down
And everywhere to go”
“Are you always on the run?
(but never finding home)
Are you tired of being alone?
Me, too”
“If history’s written by the winners
Let’s write a future for you and me”
Hope never sounded better. Neither has youth, growing up, life, heartache, or friendship. Underground, like all great records, is capable of recalling listeners to a time past, but this record is more than that. It’s also a call to arms about the future, and what you want yours to look like. It’s a reminder that we’re all in this together, and that we’d better stay tight if we want to see the world become a better place. I’m not sure how two guitars, a bass, some drums, and vocals can capture all that, but holy shit does it ever. It’s a beautiful thing.
p.s. I gone fuckin’ wild and I’ll probably be over at about 12:05 tonight.
James is a writer, skateboarder, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.