When you’re on tour, sugary sweets can sometimes be your best refuge. Driving down the roads for hours on end, day after day, can do things to your sanity. Gas stations become havens from the endless stream of road signs, a refuge to refuel your car and your stomach. Life on the road looks much less like the Bon Jovi “Wanted Dead Or Alive” video – the band glammed up and looking positively exhausted, nursing their stadium show fatigue backstage – and more like Bill & Ted moseying around the Circle K.
That’s what makes Kansas City, Mo. indie pop outfit Shy Boys’ “Something Sweet” – off their upcoming sophomore album Bell House, out Aug. 3 via Polyvinyl – such a breath of fresh air (or as fresh of air as you can get from a convenience store off the highway). Instead of waxing poetic on the follies and struggles of tour (which I’m sure Shy Boys, like all bands, have experienced at some point), they celebrate the small and simple happiness of a finding a delicious treat during a long day.
“Originally, ‘Something Sweet’ was called ‘Molly.’ It was a song I would sing to my dog. But the word ‘Molly’ is loaded, so the lyrics changed to being a song about touring.” the band tells KEXP. “It’s about assessing each highway exit as it passes, trying to figure out if it will have the best snack options, and the in and out routine of pee breaks and gas station noshes.”
That the foundation of the song’s composition was inspired by singing to his dog (a personal favorite pastime as well), the innocence and cheerfulness of the melody makes even more sense. The guitar chords shake and reverberate with an unmistakable playfulness, buoyed by lead vocalist Collin Rausch’s floating, mellifluous melody. Clocking in at just around two-minutes, “Something Sweet” might just the be the decadent confection you need in the middle of a long, laborious day yourself.
Listen to the song below.
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