Chew A Little Foil

Shudder to Think “X-French Tee Shirt”

The first time I ever heard “X-French Tee Shirt” I was 15-years-old and listening to a local alt-rock radio station in 1994. The station was doing this thing where they would debut a song and listeners could call in to say whether or not it should go into rotation. I was immediately impressed by the tune. Even after all these years, a lot of the charm in the song lies in how it sounds like a big arena rock number thrown off balance, but to my young ears it seemed especially alien. The song ended up becoming a very minor hit, and the video on MTV only emphasized the off-kilter weirdness of the group, with singer Craig Wedren looking like a pervy goateed glam Charles Xavier. I probably bought Pony Express Record a week later after playing the snippet of “X-French” that I taped off the radio dozens of times over.

“X-French Tee Shirt” is a perfect example of a song that is effectively pop in its sound despite having an asymmetrical structure and a peculiar sense of rhythm. The big chorus at the end is very accessible and undeniable in its appeal, but the first half of the song is more interesting and exciting for me, as Wedren’s voice delivers a slinky, effeminate vocal performance at odds with the spiky, brutal staccato thud of his guitar. He’s negotiating a break up, but his words bend into abstraction. He doesn’t tell you very much, but the betrayal, anger and jealous come through loud and clear, particularly when Wedren’s voice drips with dismissive bitchiness as he sings “So what’d you have to do that for? Him?” He’s incredulous at the thought of returning “to us,” and he’s heading out. When the chorus outro comes in, you feel a weight lift off the song – he’s free.

Buy it from Amazon.