Despite the fact that Flipper are, well, not for everyone is one way to put it, they were an incredibly special and innovative band. People do tend to have strong opinions about them though, mine running to the extremely positive.
The San Francisco band never really intended on having people like them very much (and they certainly succeeded at having quite a few people hate them), but ultimately they were the first punk band to be slow and dirgelike, providing the raw, harsh ingredients that Mudhoney, Nirvana and Sonic Youth would later refine into something more palatable. It's clear when listening to and watching early footage of the band, long before the death of lead singer Will Shatter, that they had no intention of being any part of rock history.
Either way, they are, and their lack of self-awareness just makes them sound ten times better. Generic Flipper, the album which features this song and the classic 'Sex Bomb' is one of the only records of the era that still takes a listener by surprise when hearing it for the first time. Though there's a tough exterior on songs like "Way of the World", there's a stark and pure flavor underneath.
Update: Flipper are releasing a new studio album called Love and a live album called Fight on Tuesday, May 19th. Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic handles the low end and co-writing on both.
