Privilege breeds complacency and false superiority. Alternately, empathy is often borne from hardship. These are significant generalizations, I know, but time and experience have proven them to be largely true. The divide between the haves and the have-nots is not only one of wealth and status; it’s also one of perception and lived experience. Pride comes easy when the world is handed to you. For the masses, however, gratitude and self-worth are hard-earned.
On their new single “Service,” Mountain Party explore the fissures between the ultra-rich and the working class. Over the band’s barreling blend of punk and Americana, guitarist and vocalist Justin Green tells a familiar story about a service worker. By day, they labor unseen at a country club, serving the needs of the rich and powerful who neglect to tip despite the capital they wield. At night, they work at a local bar, serving drinks to people who are scraping by but still manage to tip well with “the tips that they made last week.” The irony is maddening, but it’s the sort of bitter truth that Mountain Party have made a habit of emphasizing.
“Mountain Party is pretty thematically consistent right now,” Green says via email. “I’m concerned with telling stories that highlight the class disparities and burdens of late-stage capitalism that most of us have to contend with in America, and stories that show characters (or myself) struggling with the onslaught of religious hypocrisy, political machinations, and generally profit-driven manipulation thinly veiled as cultural issues. I wrote ‘Service’ because I wanted to tell a story that (I hope) many can identify with… I hope that the songs Mountain Party releases reach people who are just as mad about this stuff as me, but maybe covertly.”
Still, even if class division and income disparity don’t set you off, it’s hard to deny the song’s tremulous energy. The quiet-to-loud dynamics that mark the opening passage are positively thrilling, despite being telegraphed. That’s not an easy trick to pull off, but Mountain Party’s wholehearted embrace of such tropes is part of what makes them so compelling. Given the choice between catharsis and innovation, I’ll take the former every time. Especially when it sounds this good.
“Service” will see its physical release on Dec. 13 as a flexi 7″ courtesy of Money Pit Social Club, a new venture organized by Zac Hobbs of Canopy. Pre-orders are available here. The single marks the second entry in the club’s flexi series, following the inaugural release by Thousandaire.
Mountain Party will celebrate the release of the “Service” flexi single on Fri., Dec. 13 at Waller’s Coffee Shop alongside Evan Stepp & the Piners and the Good Graces. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $10. All ages.
More Info
Web: mountainpartyband.com
Bandcamp: mountainparty.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @mountainpartyband
Instagram: @mountain_party
Twitter: @mountain_party