Song of the Day 9/12: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, “In the Capital”

Guest post by Nathan Arizona

With our nation’s capital under attack by its own government, thoughts automatically turn to a band called Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever.

You’re right. They don’t.

Even if you knew the group has a song called “In the Capital” you’d be going down the wrong path. But the path could be interesting and “In the Capital” is a pretty good tune.

The capital in this song is probably Canberra. These guys are from Australia, where they’re a slightly more senior part of a booming indie scene.

You might see “rolling blackouts” as a consequence of Trump’s energy policies, but that would be a big stretch.

The line “in the capital . . . step lightly” might suggest that something like throwing a sandwich at one of Trump’s border control guys can get you charged with a felony, But then a lot of things remind us of the chaos Trump leaves in his wake.

The awkwardly antonymed RBCF takes its name from an early EP, but the origin of that title is lost in the mists of time. They added the last two words after learning a band in South Africa had the same name.

“It didn’t occur to us to shorten the name,” guitarist and singer Fran Keaney said in an interview.

So why make the addition “Coastal Fever?” For no particularly good reason. A band member had been sick and feverish in a Cambodian hotel by the ocean and there it was. It’s a mouthful, but Keaney likes its “vagueness.”

He said the idea for “In the Capital” came to him while he was swimming. He ended up with a tune “about connection despite distance … about “transience and water and death and big cites and fishing towns and moon river.”

Hmmm. Death and big cities could maybe summon thoughts of Trump and D.C., but moon river summons thoughts of Henry Mancini.

No matter what the song calls to mind, you can enjoy a bit of melodic, kinda jangly, kinda surfy, guitar-based indie rock. Robert Christgau has described the band’s guitar playing as “beautiful.” I wouldn’t argue with the veteran “Dean of American Rock Critics.”

“In the Capital” doesn’t rock quite as much as the RBCF song that follows, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. They’re performing in a radio station studio, but this is more polished than what you often find in that setting.

And now the band with “Talking Straight.”

The Belair Lip Bombs are a more recent addition to the Australian indie scene. The band has lately had folks at Delaware Liberal buzzing in their luxurious suite high atop Hotel Lumpy Carson.