Detroit 1976 Meets Australian Hard Rock in Scandal Tree‘s New Single ‘Twenty-O-Six‘

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Scandal Tree vocalist Huck has an unusual explanation for the inspiration behind the band’s new single, ‘Twenty-O-Six‘. He says the song began after what he describes as a semi-dream conversation with a Detroit auto worker living in 1976. “I think he is alive out there somewhere in time – not dead.” Huck explains, “He told me about the room he was in and described a dipping bird his son had given him. His son had recently passed away.”

‘Twenty-O-Six‘ is the fourth single from the band’s album, ‘Never Look a Gift Foot in the Mouth‘. “It seemed very real, and no, there were no drugs involved… MSG perhaps”. From this strange conversation came the theme and much of the lyrical content and story for ‘Twenty-O-Six‘. Set in 1976, the song follows a Detroit auto worker imagining what life might look like thirty years later—in 2006. What begins as a period piece eerily feels like history is repeating.

The lingering oil crisis, economic decline, and social upheavals serve as a bleak backdrop to the character’s pessimistic conclusion, “it don’t seem like” the America that Americans built was for the people who built it. “We built this country’s cars. We built its soul.” sings Huck in a bittersweet timbre which sparks both deep pride and tragic remorse. At 128 BPM it rumbles along with a solid rock feel. The guitar work is very noteworthy with interlocking riffs and resonant guitar tones which produce a super-fat rock sound.

Above the solid beat is a distinct and catchy melody, lyrical hooks packed with earworms you can’t help joining in on. An outlier in the space of video clips, Scandal Tree has quickly built a reputation for world-class videos made on a shoe-string budget. Their video clips are quirky, distinctive, engaging and clever. The ‘Twenty-O-Six‘ video super-charges the track with high-octane emotional power. The closing montage of U.S. presidents (1973–2006) underscores the growing disconnect between political class and the American workers.

‘Twenty-O-Six‘ is taken from their new album ‘Never Look a Gift Foot in the Mouth‘. The album is available on all popular streaming services and soon to be on vinyl format also. Be sure to check out their videos on their YouTube channel.

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