Listen to Slang's new single, 'Snakes'

“Snakes” opens on a dark, ominous chord that goes on a bit too long for most people's comfort — a whole 31 seconds. Of course, this is all part of the song's appeal, and more specifically, the effect. Slang has always welcomed the dramatic, from Hayes Hoey’s impassioned vocal performance to the band’s cabaret-like live show. But what makes the band’s self-titled LP so powerful is its ability to balance the dramatic with the neurotic. Slang is a band of contradictions, and “Snakes” is one of the darker songs in the group's catalog; yet the band remains playful as ever.

“Snakes” is still plenty nerve-wracked, lacking the rhythmic swing of “God Said” or “Bliss” from the self-titled album, in favor of a bleak, direct approach. Initially, there is a slight twang on the guitar, backed by an eerie, mischievous bass line. Hoey’s vocal performance here is splendid, as that of a circus performer given to the power of Christ. Think early Nick Cave, perhaps. It's a gloriously decadent exorcism which brings the audience to their knees, prostrating for their sins of the flesh.

Hoey is known for his storytelling lyrics that, for a lesser vocalist, would come across as too theatrical. In "Snakes," he reminisces: “It's these precious moments I'm reminded I like it when you're leading / Lead me again.” Certainly, the character in this tale has masochistic tendencies, given by the “red pressure spots” on his knees, and his fondness, or perhaps weakness, for pain. “I’ll admit I only felt pain / and I let out a scream,” he recalls, as the rhythm section builds behind him. “But that pain turned to pleasure / an orgasm of such unlimited indulgence in my own humanity that I slipped from where I was to somewhere else entirely.” Then he pleads: “The human must feel something / the human must feel anything.”

Hoey sounds desperate here, as if trying to convince himself that he deserves to feel something other than pain. Hoey took a few minutes to discuss "Snakes," and some of the larger themes he's addressing. 

Are Slang's musical, lyrical, and performance aspects dependent on each other?

Performance, music, lyrics, and everything else are all dependent on each other in this project. One doesn't exist without the other, really.

How did this song take form?

“Snakes” started out as more of a spoken word piece about a man who sat on a box of snakes his whole life. And people came in and out of his life. And his lovers wanted so badly to be with him but they couldn't handle sitting there anymore and bearing the burden of keeping the snakes trapped. So finally, after he loses everyone he loved, he stands up and turns around and lets the snakes bite him, and he finally feels freedom through that pain.

After touring and performing the thing, it started to evolve into more of a song. We played it differently every night on tour (Jan. 2016) and then stopped playing it entirely for a little bit. I spent some time re-writing the lyrics and we changed the structure of the song significantly. The lyrics are now less abstract and closer to home, but really, they relay the same message: The necessity to feel. And not just 'good' feelings, but all of them. Anger and lust and so on. And I guess there's an undertow of masochism, but I have no idea where that came from.

Slang plays The Earl with Jock Gang, DiCaprio, and Tug on Mon., Oct. 3. $8. 8:30 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Ave. S.E. 404-522-3950. www.badearl.com.