On The Horrors Strange House (2007), “Sheena is a Parasite” is the first good song on the album. It’s too bad it doesn’t appear until the second half of the record. Among the Horrors brand of Damned inspired goth punk, most songs lack energy and direction. “Sheena is a Parasite” saves the album from being the soundtrack for a mopey goth party.
It also does a better job of telling the story in Against Me’s “Thrash Unreal.” “Thrash Unreal,” from the album New Wave (2007), appears to be the kind of song Rancid used to write, but I’m not quite sure how Rancid became synonymous with Poison’s “Fallen Angel” narrative.
Tim Armstrong’s style of songwriting is actually very traditional and by traditional I mean, he writes good pop songs. Perfect almost (See also Pink’s “Trouble”). Even from Rancid’s first self-titled album (1993) their songs are poetic and romantic. Songs like “Another Night” and “Holiday Sunrise” paint pictures that aren’t pretty, but have beauty. In “Another Night” Armstrong sings, “She wouldn't move until the coast was clear. She always knew the final battle was near. If you have a bag of dope she give it up for free. If you got a song of hope it will help her see.” While his songwriting has progressed, what is visible in this early work is a sense of hope. People are down in Rancid songs, but they’re looking up.
On Life Won’t Wait (1998), one of Armstrong’s most impressive songs and least punk sounding, “Who Would’ve Thought,” Armstrong’s worldview appears crystal clear. “Who would’ve thought that dreams come true? Who would’ve thought I ended up with you? And would’ve thought what they said was true. But it was and you are light and darkness come through.”
There’s a difference here. “Thrash Unreal” both tells the story of how the scene has changed and of those that are always out of step. Think of Jack Kerouac being in love with the mad ones. If anything, the song should only be sad because the scene is not the place the girl in the song fits in anymore. She used to, but it’s not that she has outgrown it; the scene has changed. But the song comes across as sounding sad for the girl like Poison’s “Fallen Angel”.
“Thrash Unreal” is not a Rancid song, because she’s not in the gutter looking up. Things aren’t going to get better. But it’s not a Poison song either. In “Fallen Angel,” Mama’s fallen angel is rolling the dice with her life. The girl in “Thrash Unreal” is doing what she wants. “If she wants to dance and drink all night then there’s no one that can stop her” and “if she had to live it all over again you know she wouldn’t change anything for the world.” If anything she’s the girl from Social Distortion’s “Mommy’s Little Monster” who “left home for the streets” and “has fun with the boys in the band in her eyes it will never end.”
In “Sheena Is a Parasite,” The Horrors rewrite The Ramones’ “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.” The original Sheena was anthemic for all the kids who felt out of step. She got tired of going to the discotheque a go go. But Sheena is not a punk rocker anymore. She’s a parasite. She’s a hanger on just like the girl in the Against Me song. The Horrors manage to better express this scenario than Against Me. Despite the intention, which is to not feel sorry for the girl in the song, it still manages to feel sad. It chugs along slowly like a U2 slow dance song. It evokes the last call melancholia that is so prevalent and popular right now. “Sheena is a Parasite” on the other hand, begins at breakneck speed and never lets up. I don’t feel bad for Sheena. She’s a “champion of self-reliance.”
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