Currently listening to...

...one of the greatest songs in contemporary music history: "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths. Seriously.
I recall when their first eponymous album was released and the sound of the band and Morrissey's vocals in particular were unlike anything heard before.

This astounding 1985 song, with absolutely devastating lyrics by Morrissey and relentless "psychedelic" guitar riff by Johnny Marr, is best summed up by a review at the time in Melody Maker magazine: "The majestic ease of Morrissey's melancholic vocals are tinted with vitriol, as they move through vistas of misery with plaintive spirals around the pulse of Johnny Marr's vibrato guitar. The string's muted strains conjure wistful signs that bridge the schism between crass sentimentality and callous detachment. Each repeated phrase intensifies the hypnotic waves, with results that outflank anything since [their previous song] 'This Charming Man'. Catharsis has rarely been tinged with so much regret, and shared with so much crystalline purity."

I agree. Raw. Hypnotic. Unflinching in its unadorned view of pathos.
See if you agree too.

I am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and heir
Of the nothing in particular

You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

I am the son and the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar
I am the son and the heir
Of nothing in particular

You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

There's a club
If you'd like to go
You could meet somebody
Who really loves you

So you go and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home
And you cry and you want to die

When you say it's gonna happen now
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See, I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone

You shut your mouth, how can you say
I go about things the wrong way
I am human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does

It is worth noting that this video was created by their label at the time, Sire (part of Warner Bros.), without any input from the band who despised the final product. While not ideal, it is nice to see early footage of The Smiths.