If you’re a regular reader of We Own This Town or regular listener of the Music podcast, you’ll know that we’re pretty smitten with the works of Volunteer Department. Primary songwriter Oliver Hopkins has a keen ability to write a scathing takedown steeped in snarling criticism, all wrapped in a memorable pop song. In short, we love it.
Recently, the band has been rolling out a new EP entitled Clean Living song-by-song. You possibly saw the premiere of the latest track “Swell” over in The Scene. I won’t bother to repeat the information that they’ve already shared (tho, you should read it) but will add that Hopkin’s lyrics are really worth paying attention to. Take this line for example:
“I’ll cut my fingers off and mail `em to France.
At least then some small part of me
won’t be stuck here arguing
the in’s and out’s of something that has no shape.”
It’s evocative and incredibly memorable. It’s also just one snippet of a track that continuously delivers similar gems. The song is, reportedly, about finding solutions to stunted creativity by looking elsewhere but Hopkins leaves it open-ended enough that you can draw your own conclusions.
It’s also worth noting that this latest batch of Volunteer Department songs seems to go to great length to layer vocal interplay in a myriad of interesting ways. Maybe that’s insight that should be saved for a larger review of the entire release but listening to “Swell” carefully and you’ll notice a variety of other voices that augment the lyrics to give them an even more potent punch.
Look for the Clean Living EP from Like You Mean It Records and be sure to follow Volunteer Department (really killing it with the visuals lately too).