Coming straight off the success of their first few singles is Spearside, a three-piece Irish punk-pop band, with their newest release Not Up to Much, a track that is bursting at the seams with youthful energy. With zinging guitar, deep rumbling bass and soaring vocals, their sound is the perfect pop-rock concoction to boost your mood.
During the lockdown, the newly-formed band were getting busy making their dream a reality. They built their own home studio, and from here recorded Not Up to Much, as well as their previous singles, Bus Stop, and their debut, Crack in Your Brain. All three songs were recorded during the same sessions, and all three are similarly buzzing with infectious energy from the fresh new band.
The song comes paired with an animated music video that features punchy, vibrant doodle-style animated visuals that perfectly complement the rough-around-the-edges charm of Spearside’s sound. However, despite the fun, vibrant atmosphere, the track’s true meaning has a darker, somewhat gloomier meaning at its core.
Guitarist and singer Oisín Walsh says about the track, “When the musical backdrop is major key and upbeat, it can offer some extra license to explore darker lyrics without the song feeling too laborious. Not Up to Much is about someone revelling in their descent into nihilism.’”
‘’I tend not to write with a conscious lyrical idea or theme in mind so after I wrote the song it took a long time for me to realise how sinister Not Up to Much really is,’’ he explains. ‘’The character in the lyrics takes the tragedy of their life, their apathy, and their social isolation, and uses it as an excuse to give up, blame others, and crack a wry smile while they do it.
The meaning of the song is all in the last two lines, when the character ironically says, ‘I don’t care because no one does, looks like I’m just not up to much’.”
Their ability to create these kinds of layers of meaning within their songwriting gives their music a whole new layer of depth, and gives fans something to decode and interpret their own meaning for; this is the kind of thought-provoking social commentary that the indie scene is crying out for, and Spearside seem to have it in bucket loads. For a brand spanking new band, they are certainly making strides in the right direction – we can’t wait to see what they do next.
Keep up with the band on their socials, and check out Not Up to Much on streaming platforms right now.
