When Tom Waits unleashed the first single along with details from his forthcoming follow-up to Real Gone last month, he scolded those sharing “Bad As Me,” the LP’s title track, before the big reveal. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, Waits is ready to spread an official stream of the cut for all to enjoy, guilt-free. After a couple dozen spins of this funky, Marc Ribot-featuring cut over the past 10 days, I can safely say we have another undeniable Waits classic on our hands — picking up where tunes like “Hoist That Rag,” “Make It Rain,” and “Shake It,” from the aforementioned 2004 set, left off with unhinged beauty and strangely poetic lyrics, such as: “I’m the car in the weeds / If you cut me, I’ll bleed.”
Already a Song of the Year contender, spin “Bad As Me” above.