- Photo by Daniel Coston
- The dB’s
“Revolution of the Mind,” the new song from influential and underrated indie rock progenitors the dB’s, does not sound like the work of a band that hasn’t released new music since 1994. The tune, the band’s first since the “classic” line-up began playing together again in 2005, is a burst of pop-rock energy with punk overtones and a rebellious message. Click here to download the MP3.
A leftover from the sessions for Falling Off the Sky, the band’s forthcoming 2012 reunion album, the Peter Holsapple-fronted track rides a guitar lick that mimics a European police siren. It ricochets off of rock-solid bass and a backdrop chug of drums and rhythm guitar. Holsapple challenges modern notions of security, lashing out at his fellow 40-somethings for losing the revolutionary vigor of their youth: “Buying a Chevrolet is not a revolutionary act,” he taunts. An all-star effort by both local and national standards, the song features supplementary guitar work from Yo La Tango’s Ira Kaplan and background vocals from The Old Ceremony’s Django Haskins.
Feeding off the times, the band released the song in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. One of the song’s two music videos is directly tied to the spirit of the protest. Directed by Raleigh’s Mike Allen, the clip splices footage of the occupation with other defiant acts, both fictional and historical, and a curiously placed black-and-white cartoon.
“The OWS movement, and similar movements throughout the country and the world, implies to me that, when something is wrong, you can’t sit around wringing your hands and hoping for someone to activate change,” Holsapple says. “You have to take the matter into your own hands and make it happen yourself. Hopefully, as with OWS, you will find like-minded individuals who can add to your number, and with that burgeoning number you can feel a certain amount of strength that what you are doing is valid and right and important.”
