Cubs In Coves, the Brisbane act headed by producer Shannon Rogers, have today dropped Bring the Top Down, a single off their upcoming EP Thinkpop.
As the name of their EP would suggest, Cubs in Coves strive to craft a brand of intelligent pop music. Like the best art should, it invites listeners to question rather than accept, to read into a song as well as fall for it.
A ballad aimed at both the downtrodden and the privileged, Bring the Top Down from Cubs In Coves is a well-crafted pop track harbouring a potent message.
Bring the Top Down specifically tackles the shithouse distribution of wealth in today’s society. While the Occupy movement may have well and truly shut down, the fact remains that the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. Describing the track, Rogers had the follow to say:
“Bring the Top Down is a cry to look up and scrutinise those with mass wealth who have a large say in our society before we look down to those on the bottom; the poorest and on welfare.”
Sonically, it’s definitely a faster cut from Cubs in Coves. Hints of Two Door Cinema Club or The Strokes breathe a real indie-pop flavour into the track, complete with climbing chorus that takes you by the ear and won’t let go.
Quick crescendos and a lively vocal performance really add to this track’s political power, whipping listeners into a heightened social awareness, only compounded by Rogers’ contemplative lyricism.
Not only does he point the finger at those with too much power, he reminisces on those at the bottom of the ladder, those who are too often forgotten. Bring the Top Down is as a protest song should be; it tells a story while challenging us to do something about it:
“Bring the Top Down is a song with two agendas, the first is about making the most out of the life you are born into, the second is using that life to also stand up for those less fortunate; the bottom of society.”
“The life we are born into is not of our choosing or control, but what we do during that life, the choices we make and what we leave behind is.”
With only a few singles to their name, Cubs In Coves are carving out a respected niche for thought-provoking indie pop with a political edge. If the rest of the upcoming EP Thinkpop is half as formidable as Bring the Top Down or previous single They’ll Come For You, we’re in for a treat indeed.
Thinkpop will be released on November 13th.
