JACKPOT – We’ve Got A Winner!

A brief look at the new single launching the band formally known as Human Resources into a new era as Skiving ahead of their upcoming album, The Family Computer. Be sure to catch their single release show at Paper Dress Vintage on October 18th! See you there…

Looking at the world through a kid’s eyes, where money seems limitless and opportunities are as abundant as petty cash down the back of a sofa, Skiving’s ‘The National Lottery’ takes us on a rollercoaster through extravagant expenditures and boisterous boastings. The newly released single, as of September 10th this year, follows the emotional aftershock of the juvenile protagonist after receiving the news that their Dad has just won the lottery. With naive self-assuredness the lyrics detail how this seemingly proprietous payout will erase the hardships faced by our narrator as well as so many of us currently, all the while sneakily dropping in hints that something may go awry. Bold statements and absolutes are juxtaposed by vocalist Harry Handford’s clever inflections and deliberate exaggerations which both artfully excite and warn us about the misadventures of the young lottery winner.

The first thing you hear after you hit play is what seems to be the sound of a jet soaring in the air, opening the song by hinting at that jetsetter lifestyle now within reach. The instrumental parts emerge with an upbeat and playful guitar riff played by Matt Baker that is carried through most of the spoken-word verse. Light embellishments and consonant, joyful harmonies are added by the saxophone (Juan Brint-Gutiérrez) and trombones, with Leo Dutton’s bass line simultaneously grounding the melody to elevate the sound to a richer listening experience. The track’s collective rhythm of all the various moving parts has the power to put a bounce in our steps as listeners; the verse has a sense of inescapable confidence that I found myself imitating on my way to work, and could clearly picture the song’s protagonist walking along to. Nostalgic moments of the wood block shine through in addition to the use of rim clicks by Colin Olive which keep the sound fairly stripped back, but effectively builds our anticipation for the coming chorus.

Now this is where the song takes a turn. The tempo picks up, the full drumkit comes into its own, previously playful melodies are now replaced by drawn out chords, and it feels like the song kicks into a higher gear. Our protagonist has seemingly let all thoughts of greed and grandeur go to his head, talking about how he is going to get some “filthy rich amigos up for evil doing”. Yet, without letting us get too enveloped into the prospects and plans, we are once again reminded of the age and position of our narrator as Handord quips “The Benz-mum-school-run cool ones, yeah you know they’re a shoe-in”. It seems almost silly that we tie so much of our value and status allocation to material possessions and the people who accumulate them, especially when seen through a kid’s eyes.

The musical fantasy continues to build into the second boisterous verse. Yet where the song truly cements itself as one of my favourite releases of the year is at the short break where initially, we only hear the bass but we are quickly launched into a frenzy of noise. Everyone is playing but the notes are getting more dissonant, spoken word becomes shouted, everything feels out of control, until it all just stops. Just like that. Just long enough for us to hear that the news has been broken, and what was previously as a one-way ticket to the upper echelons of the one percent was merely £100. Now, £100 isn’t something to sniff at, particularly if you’re a child, but once more Skiving manages to make a cutting jab at the rising cost of living where £100 barely covers a family’s weekly shop and is no longer the ultimate cash prize for our young idealist. Even then, after having the flashy fallacy shattered the music begins to build again. Something is stirring and it keeps growing till proverbial hell breaks loose, a cacophony of voices all iterating the same sentiment of an inability to rein in the all-consuming avarice and affectations the lottery money has brought.
‘The National Lottery’ is another classic showcasing the cynical and sharp wit the group formally known as Human Resources carries about them, and no doubt will be continuing to do so in their upcoming album The Family Computer, set to be released on January 8th. They effortlessly capture the essence of, as they say, “the kid who got the cream”, whilst still maintaining all the snark and not-so-subtle disdain for the typical attitudes and spending habits that usually accompany those attributes. Neoliberalism’s comeback has been accompanied with its musical countermovement, and ‘The National Lottery’ and its message is a piercing contribution to the post-punk renaissance that has been ever-growing in recent years. We rely on bands such as Skiving to artfully express what we want to scream at the top of our lungs, in a way that we actually can hum, sing, shout along to. In the words of the post-corporate art-rockers themselves, “I can’t stop!”