However, there are songs where the horns erupt out of nothing as part of an exuberant climax and sound so entirely part of the moment that you don’t necessarily remember they are in the song. This isn’t like trying to find the harmonica part in “Good Vibrations”, mind you, it’s that the horns do not announce themselves right away or overpower the song.

“Can’t Hardly Wait”, off the Replacement’s 1987 album Pleased to Meet Me, demonstrates this very well. It’s a typical set-up for them: drums, prominent bass line, guitar and Paul Westerberg’s half swallowed vocals. At the first “lights that flash in the evening”, restrained horns peek out with a short lick and expand after that verse. The horns don’t take up a lot of room in the song, with most of the wailing coming from Westerberg’s vocal chords.

Pre-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Wilco were known for a lot of things, but rampant use of horns isn’t one. Not until the second repeat of the chorus in “Monday” on Being There do the horns come out blazing, and similar to our Replacements example, they stick to punctuating the lines and adding strength to the chorus/bridge. Trumpet heavy, the horns reach above Tweedy’s vocals toward the bombastic.

Robyn Hitchcock sets up a mid-tempo, spare acoustic sound in “Veins of the Queen” on Queen Elvis, with some background vocals adding to the sense of airiness. Electric guitar comes in just before a cornet twists around the lines “Private detective with her”. The song concludes with a stately horn line reminiscent of the muted trumpet of The Beatles “For No One” on Revolver. The “Royal Mix” of “Veins of the Queen” starts with the regal horn fill, but otherwise doesn’t vary their use.

Though Public Enemy has frequently used samples of horns, none have had the sweetness of the saxophone in “Show ‘Em Whatcha Got” on It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
. The contrast of the slow steamy sax and the strong rhythms and stabbing vocal loops reverse the expectation--the vocals add the punch and the horns provide the melody. The source, “Darkest Light” by the Lafayette Afro Rock Band, is worth seeking out.

Belle & Sebastian, soft Scottish indie darlings, use horns to draw out the simple pop tune “Roy Walker” on Dear Catastrophe Waitress. It lends a retro feel to have the smattering of horns at the end of the verses, though the main wildness of the track comes from the electric guitar and harmonica.

A band with “Brass” in the name seems like it would be automatically excluded from this list, but the Nutley Brass performing The Ramones Songbook as Played by Nutley Brass is so far beyond any other version of the Ramones yet instantly recognizable as their work. They are all brilliant, but for horns their take on “Beat on the Brat” is excellent. Mostly instrumental, they sound like the score of a Doris Day film. Over the top sweet strings, xylophone, tambourines, and horns with a dollop of whipped cream. This is the sound of the elevator to punk heaven.

The ultimate unexpected horn is in Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk”. The funky drum and bass line, crazy quiet and loud vocal mix do nothing to prepare the listener for the full onslaught of the USC Marching Band. A plucked acoustic guitar is a truly bizarre accompaniment for the horns. This is a song that has the power to surprise regardless of how well someone is warned, especially if the listener knows any of the rest of their work.

Image from Tom Marcello on Flickr.