In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing. This week: songs about food.
Though Cibo Matto’s Viva! La Woman came out in 1996, it’s still a pretty weird record nearly 20 years later. Viva! is a celebration of the Japanese duo’s Italian namesake phrase, which actually means “crazy food.” Single “Sugar Water” was the record’s relatively modest hit, but the totally weird, totally ’90s clip for “Know Your Chicken” is what captured the general public’s attention. Part arty soap opera, part shitty rap video, “Know Your Chicken” is a visual homage to wind-up toys, anarchy, and personally slaughtering the food you eat. It’s a message that’s actually pretty prevalent now in the locavore movement, but at the time, the notion of killing your own meat just seemed macabre. Even so, the song is pretty catchy.