Unapologetically weird and intellectual: Caroline Polachek's "Dang" performance
“Pull up like a shipwreck in reverse, yeah, I do, yeah, I do/ Maybe it's forever, maybe it's just shampoo/Dang,” Caroline Polachek sings while giving a formal presentation on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. "Mary Poppins opened up the purse like I do, yeah, I do/Who's a pretty city kitty sippin' on chartreuse? Dang.”
I have barely listened to Polachek’s music. But after watching her TED-Talk style performance on Stephen Colbert, one thing I can say is dang. Literally, dang. Her new track "Dang" is catchy, with mesmerizing vocals and lyrics.
It wasn’t the song that sold me at first. It was the performance. Wearing a red latex dress, Polachek stands next to a slideshow. It looks as if she’s about to give a formal presentation, and she certainly does in her own unapologetically weird way.
Memes, screenshots, and pictures of geese are some of the many intriguing images that grace the projector on beat with the track “Dang” as she sings. Repetitive lyrics such as “dang” in sync with a pulsing beat make the listener want to bop their head back and forth to the song.
It’s weird. The presentation doesn’t make sense, except it does in Polachek’s favor. While presenting an overstimulating variety of content, she poses the travesties of being famous with the art you produce before incorporating an audio clip from a viral video of her screaming at geese. The performance is everything the song “Dang” is — an overwhelming type of weirdness that the world needs.
Watch Polachek’s performance on Colbert below. “Dang” is also out now on streaming platforms.