Song: “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”

Drove through Sacramento yesterday while this song came on. They’re from this state’s capital, but the sound of them reminds me of Austin.

Specifically, they remind me of summers in Austin, when the heat permeates everything. When I’m stopped at a red light for so long I want to fall asleep because my eyelids are hot and my knees are sweating and there’s a wavy mirage of hot hell coming off the hood of my car. When I want to cry because it feels like my bones are liquidating inside my body and the tiny hairs that are trying to grow on my scalp feel singed.It’s been hot here, but nothing like my last summer in Austin, when it hit 112 and stayed that way for so long I was looking for someone to blame. And there’s something about the monotonous wail of the lead singer from Cake that feels like the desperation that heat causes. When you can’t move because every calorie of energy you expend makes it feel that much hotter, all you can do is sit really still and try not to use any inflection in your voice or have the slightest of emotions.

That’s what Cake sounds like to me.