Back in 2012 when Elizabeth Warren ran for a seat on the U.S. Senate, everyone was all like “Listen to Elizabeth Warren!” Three years later, with the Massachusetts politician a growing force on the national landscape, a different demographic is expressing the same sentiment, excitedly telling others to, well, “listen to ‘Elizabeth Warren.'”
That’s exactly what we’re doing today, as Boston and New York shoegaze/noise-pop crew Coaches have released their own personal ode to the senator, appropriately titled “Elizabeth Warren.” It might be the first ever shoegaze song written about a New England politician (shame that My Bloody Valentine never took on Ted Kennedy), and you can listen to it below via the Coaches’ Bandcamp page.
“Elizabeth,” sings Coaches frontman Brady Custis, “You hit me with honest process, steady progress. You knocked me out.” Later, it gets more personal: “Elizabeth, your constituents appreciate you. But do they get you? I think I do.”
So where is this inspiration coming from?
“I got pamphlet in the mail one day in 2012 and it had a picture on the front that looked pretty similar to this,” Custis tells Vanyaland.
“Pretty typical politician in a diner relating to ‘normal’ people: they put on an empty smile, act like they’re listening, then you wonder what went wrong when they actually get elected,” Custis adds. “And I get it, they have to do those things day in and day out, I guess it’s hard to stay interested after a while. Anyway, I’m generally not swayed by those things, but that day her face reminded me of genuine concern. I figured either she’s better at acting than other politicians and I was being tricked, or maybe it was more than just a photo-op for her.”
So is this a sonic love letter to the senator?
“It’s a love letter to the idea of her at the very least,” Custis says. “In general a politician seems like a fragment of a person carefully crafted to make them appear great because they need to be liked to get elected. I’m sure we’re all wary of that idea. However, possibly because of this narrow definition they take on, talking heads have the ability to appeal to the idealist in all of us sometimes. I’m no exception. I’m not gonna claim to know whether Elizabeth Warren is good or bad for the country because I don’t think anyone would or should care what I believe. I tried pretty hard to keep politics out of it and I’d like to think the song is about 10 other more interesting things before it’s about my raging liberal ideals, but I’m also probably the person least likely to know.”
“Elizabeth Warren,” the song, will be featured on Coaches’ upcoming EP Shush, out December 4 via Boston-based independent record label Disposable America (have at that affiliation, pundits!). Pre-order it here.
Featured photo by Adam Gundersheimer