10,000 Maniacs - My Mother the War

Here's another band who I would never believe used to be good if I didn't actually remember them when they were. 10,000 Maniacs started out sounding like a bunch of middle class art students - which they probably were - with rather ludicrously pretentious lyrics and song-titles (Google "Poor de Chirico" if you don't believe me) but you hardly noticed over the angelic voice that sang them. The music, too, was a lot more creative than their later recordings would suggest; I suppose you'd have to say they were "interesting" back then, even if you didn't exactly like them. Unfortunately the downhill slide started early and virtually nothing from the mid-1980s on is really bearable to my ears.

This is a relatively straightforward one from their first full-length album, 1983's Secrets of the I Ching.