There’s a pleasing circularity to the fact that a track by Mint 400 was included in the selections from the first Peel show to soundtrack A Midsummer Night’s Dream and now one by them features among the selections from the final Peel show of the Midsummer Night’s Dream period. Last time out, I banged on about the way I used to confuse Mint 400 with other similarly named bands such as Mint Royale and Galaxie 500, it’s taken me until now to discover that the band were named after an off road race in Las Vegas and despite loving the book, I’d forgotten all about the fact that it was Hunter S. Thompson’s reason for going to Vegas when he wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Despite some slightly metaphysical lyrics i.e. What makes a scene a scene?/What makes a sun a sun?, I think Thruster deals primarily in the swirl of emotions felt by love and desire. When first hit by those feelings, humans will call into question the nature of the world around them and even their own identity, just as happens here: What makes a man a man? The first half of the song captures that rush of emotion, confusion and exhilaration. The switch to spacier atmospherics around 1:45 feels like the protagonist trying to regain their equilibrium and moving from abstract thoughts to more earthbound ones. Around the 2:05 mark, we’re offered a snapshot of the protagonist and the girl consummating their passion. Who cares about male-self identity when you’re getting to make out with a girl in a sexy dress. Ultimately, the meaning of the track comes back to that recurring line, Faster inside which covers both the beating of a heart and sexual rhythm - the title may give us an indication of which one it means. But regardless, it feels so good.
The video features the version of Thruster as recorded by Mint 400 for a single. At least two tracks that Mint 400 recorded for this Peel Session are available. They are Sew My Eyes and Snakes Like Fish.
Video courtesy of Mint 400 - Topic
All lyrics are copyright of their authors.
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