In the video for this track, interspersed with colourful shots of the band performing, there is a character jiving and strutting around. He is in a suit, pointing fingers, tweeting and making private phone calls to the Ukrainian president (one can assume), all while wearing a clown/trump hybrid mask. Rarely has there been a more appropriate metaphor.
The Trump administration has gone so far beyond ridiculous that is has pushed political failing in to new realms of horrific corruption, and it would be funny were it not for all the people suffering and dying because of it. That statistic that was revealed recently of how many lies he has told in office was staggering and yet somehow, after nearly four years of it, still quite believable. It was 20,000 by the way. Twenty. Thousand. That is more than 15 lies per day. How can you even comprehend having that much disregard for the American people?
In 'Leaving While You Stay' Greg Hoy & The Boys have attempted to write their own satirical criticism of Trump. I'll be honest and say that until I saw the video I wouldn't have necessarily known that the lyrics were referring to the president. Once I knew this is the topic of choice then it is far more obvious, and the references to his hands and big rockets is quite amusing, but the lyrics are a little bit non-specific on first listen. Maybe that is part of the satire itself, being how Trump's propensity for being articulate and accurate is almost non-existent. From an energetic piece of rock-n-roll though, I would have perhaps liked a bit more bile and conspicuousness from the words.
Talking of the music, it's a catchy bit of 21st century indie-punk-rock-n-roll, with a sound very reminiscent of the NYC garage rock bands of the early 2000s – The Rapture, The Virgins, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, it's got that vibe to it. From the funky-punk guitar riff that leads the song, to the deliberately slightly off vocal harmonies, to the tight stomping rhythm, this is a song that would fit right at home in Brooklyn in 2003. It's a decent tune that takes me back to a time when white sunglasses, waistcoats, ripped flairs and knackered converse were the wardrobe essentials. Also, perhaps not so coincidentally, the last era when a terrible and incompetent president was in office.
Green Day recently tried to revive this sound with their 'Father of All Motherfuckers' album, and it was a hot-mess of a record that really didn't know what it was doing. It's a shame that they have potentially given people the wrong impression of this sound when guys like Greg Hoy are continuing to do it so well. This track is miles better than anything on that Green Day record, and doesn't come across as pompous and arrogant, something both it's subject matter and the Green Day album have in common.
I don't think 'Leaving While You Stay' is a deliberate piece of nostalgia though, it's better than that. This isn't a tune meant to take you back as much as it is meant to be looking forward to a time when this president finally falls out of the White House and allows some respectability back into the oval office. Fingers crossed, or I think a lot of citizens in the USA will be leaving while he stays.
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