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Way You Walk

Robert Rackley
Robert Rackley
— 1 min read

I saw Papas Fritas play during their run in the nineties at a club called Go Studios that straddled the border between Chapel Hill and Carrboro. They were an energetic live band and most impressively, had a drummer (Shivika Asthana) who sang. Purchasing their third long-player, Buildings and Grounds, was an easy decision.

The band broke up in 2000, just as they began to get commercial recognition for this song, “Way You Walk”—which was featured in a frequently run breath mints TV ad. The track is a perfect distillation of nineties indie pop. A simple but effective bass line. A mid-song acoustic guitar solo.

The video animation stylistically brings to mind “Take On Me,” by A-ha, but with rich watercolors instead of pen and ink.

Papas Fritas - Walk You Walk (YouTube)

• • •

Papas Fritas reunited in 2011 and played at Primavera Sound. Singer and guitarist Tony Goddess looks like he’s having fun. Not only does he change the solo, but he brings in the chorus from Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell.”

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Robert Rackley

Robert Rackley

Mere Christian, aspiring minimalist, inveterate notetaker, budget audiophile and paper airplane mechanic. Self-publishing since 1994.

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