“Nemesis” by Shriekback

Shriekback's "Nemesis" slithered out in September 1985 from the album Oil and Gold, and it moves like something that lives under the floorboards: a drum machine pulse, snaking keyboard lines and a groove that is equal parts funk and menace. Barry Andrews produced it, sings it and plays the keyboards, with Martyn Barker working the drum machine and synths, Lu Edmonds on guitar and Hans Zimmer adding extra synthesizer.

The secret ingredient is the backing chorus. Emma Burnham, Rick Driscoll and Clare Torry chant and holler behind Andrews' deadpan delivery like a congregation that wandered into the wrong church, and the whole thing turns sinister and oddly danceable at once. Andrews wrote it with Barker, Dave Allen and Carl Marsh.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.