Time to feature a new EP from our friends in the Black Rainbow Collective! You may have read our coverage of The Mooches’ new tracks over the past few months, especially their singles “Rudeboy” and “Skinhead”. Those two songs make up half of The Mooches’ new EP Dance With Me Now, a fresh taste of the band’s blend of indie pop and second-wave ska.
The four songs on the new EP ask you to do exactly what the title suggests: Dance! And of course you will, albeit in various tempos. The lead track “Up the Wall” is two-tone bliss, although the lyrics suggest a tragic state: Vocalist Bob recounts a wasted life, with opportunities of romance and riches “pissed up the wall”. For those not familiar with British vernacular, to piss up the wall means to waste money with reckless abandon. When you’ve drunk yourself so deep into debt and have no future, sometimes continuing self-destruction seems like the best-case scenario. At least on this track, the band reflects someone with the self-conscience to know they’ve screwed themselves. But instead of wallow in sorrow, why not shake some ass?
Listen: We live in unprecedented times, as just about everyone has mentioned over the past – (checks watch and sighs) – decade or so. And in times where we feel too hopeless to do something about the downward trajectory of the planet, there is one other option: Seek joy. What sparks more joy in the heart than dancing? Getting the blood pumping helps the brain’s ability to create strategy, organize, collaborate, and take action for the many against the machine running the world into the ground for the benefit of a rich, cynical few.
But sometimes, you just have to dance because your heart’s broken. On “Rudeboy”, that’s the case: A slowed-down reggae-inspired groove accompanies a lyric from the point of view of a lover fresh out of jail. As our rude boy pines for his partner, he mourns his situation and the fact that she’s moved on without him. Again, what can one do in this tragic moment but dance? Even as the words suggest sadness, the music makes you want to move your hips and sway your shoulders.
We already waxed about “Rudeboy“, as well as “Skinhead“, which recounts a character who bases their whole life on looking good, going out, and having a fun time, regardless of the world’s situation. Of course, The Mooches’ “Skinhead” refers to the anti-fascist branch of the culture, and not the right-wing Nazi-aligned branch with which most people associate the term. The original skinheads – the leftist, anti-racist, working-class, and fashion-oriented folks – could beat the piss out of those other bottom-feeding blokes any day. I imagine the character of this song would hit the club just after bloodying the faces of some fash numbskulls.
The Mooches cap off this new EP with a live version of their uptempo cover of The McCoy’s “Sorrow”. Giving it a higher key and the ska treatment along with a dreamy slide guitar, The Mooches once again lift low emotions into a tune fit for dancing, once again beseeching you to get up from your seat, shimmy a little, and let the movement sweep away your sorrow and stir your spirits.
Dance With Me Now isn’t just part of the lyric from “Rudeboy”, nor is it just the title of the album: It’s a command. The Mooches are all about the beauty of every day, and therefore, why not try to find the crack of light in the darkness, a reason to walk down the street with a little extra pep, or a moment to dance like no one’s watching? It can seem hard these days to do such things, but The Mooches hope these new songs will help give you a little push in the right direction.
Take a listen to Dance With Me Now below.
Written by Will Sisskind
