So July 4th has come and gone, and if you live in the United States, perhaps you celebrated or didn’t, depending on your feelings regarding the state of the nation. I, for one, did not partake in the festivities that come with observing the anniversary of the day that a group of white dudes announced their independence from the British Empire, despite having colonized native lands and spreading disease and putting folks with darker skin in servitude. Ah, America! You dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb country!
And so, when you think of a song called “HOT DOG”, you might think of these strange United States, for the sausage has become a part of American culture, from baseball games to backyard barbecues to the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island every July 4th. The hot dog is not just a quick nitrate-filled cholesterol-packing snack; it is a symbol of America, albeit a symbol of ultra-convenience, gluttony, lust, and sloth.
So what better band to pen a song dedicated to a love for the hot dog than one from across the pond? Oh yes! The punkers of Room Service – a UK-based crew of three French folks, one from Portugal, one from jolly old Britain, and a Texan – have written and released “HOT DOG”, a fine ode to the frankfurter, an elegy to the glizzy, a writing of adoration for the wiener! It packs all the energy and fun of their live shows into a four-minute single, which also serves as a paean to regular dogs, and – if you want to think filthy – perhaps the metaphorical hot dog as well. (Look, if you say “glizzy” around certain folks, their minds are gonna go towards the gutter. I’m covering all my bases.)
Of course, Room Service didn’t necessarily write “Hot Dog” solely to send up American culture or the cliché July 4th celebrations. They’re a fun group who enjoy sticking to their somewhat novelty brand, having released their debut EP The Plastic Cosmic Fantastic Hotel last year. They have played live to adoring and growing crowds across the UK and France, headlining their fair share of gigs and festivals over the past several years. They have an infectious sound that implores you to dance, making you feel as if you are perhaps at an outdoor cookout in a friend’s backyard where someone’s called the cops to make you turn the music down, even though the cops are already at the cookout, out of uniform, and about ten drinks in doing cannonballs into the deep end of the pool.
But even if “HOT DOG” isn’t a song about America at all, it does make you think of those kinds of cookouts, where people come together no matter where their parents were born, what they look like, how they choose to love, or what god they believe in. There’s a better kind of world out there where we can all have these kinds of gatherings, help each other, have fun with each other, and – of course – feed each other. That’s what I took from Room Service’s song, anyway. To hell with this fascism. Give me the America where instead of tearing ourselves and each other apart, we all live to do right by each other. And part of doing that is giving each other hot dogs. (Vegan options are also available, of course.)
Room Service are Héléna Marchand, Devin Curry, Thomas Conrad, Melvin Vernet, Nez Garcia, and Zach Wright. Take a listen to “HOT DOG” below.
Written by Will Sisskind
