Cat Power is the alias for Chan Marshall (with “Chan” actually pronounced like “Shawn”). “He War” was the first Cat Power song I heard. I was sitting at a Rocky Rococo in Madison having lunch and flipping through The Onion one day in February ’03 when I came across a review for her fifth album You Are Free.
This album is about half comprised of gorgeous songs and a few others that may or may not appeal as much. That’s probably a safe description for most of her albums, actually. Her voice is very unique and haunting. Musically it’s a very bare-bones sound, though some songs show a more rockier side. One such track is “He War,” a guitar-driven rocker that manages to be haunting and menacing at the same time.
Also of note, Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters plays drums on this song and a number of others on You Are Free, and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder supplies very faint backing vocals on two more. In the liner notes, however, they are nothing more than D.G. and E.V.