4. ‘Berserk’

B-side of ‘Bang’ CD, released 5/8/91. Produced by Blur.

Developing his admiration for Syd Barrett, Graham instigated this 6.50 instrumental freakout that combines elements of four songs (‘No Good Trying’, ‘No Man's Land’, ‘Baby Lemonade’, and ‘Late Night’) from Barrett’s two solo LP's of late 1970. A loud guitar/organ drone, it features Graham on heavily distorted guitar, run backwars - a sound he likens to “a wasp buzzing all the way trough it” - as well as playing one of two drum loops (Dave plays the other). Listeners who stay the distance suffer repeated aural shocks as Graham overdubs as additional guitar at formidable volume (particularly severe at 4.49 and 6.06), and after the cacophony has abated the song appears audibly to smoke in the air. Reactions are mixed. “This is what Graham’s solo album will sound like,” says Alex. “Not worth dwelling on,” says Andy Ross. Indisputably the most unhinged of the early Blur recordings.