As the great Woody Guthrie once told musicologist Alan Lomax: “Music is some kind of electricity that makes a radio out of a man.” We have heard that played out well in song over time (U2, The Clash, Radiohead, The National, Elvis Costello (most appropriately), etc.). More recently we’ve heard it in the likes of Mondo Cozmo, Car Seat Headrest and Australia’s The Smith Street Band.

Check out below The Smith Street Band‘s rousing song 25 off of their critically-acclaimed 2017 album More Scared of You Than You Are of Me on Poolhouse Records.  With its I Will Follow opening and singer Wil Wagner’s punched-up delivery, we hear the electricity that makes a radio out of Wagner.

You can buy/stream the worthwhile More Scared of You Than You Are of Me HERE.

The Smith Street Band is coincidentally embarking on a North American tour that starts a week from Friday in San Diego, then Los Angeles and San Francisco, and other North American parts, before returning to LA’s cool venue The High Hat on September 19th.  Don’t ya miss ’em! You can get tickets HERE for their tour.

“It was so cold in the top room
But I didn’t wanna risk waking you
So I let it sit in my feet and my fingers
With everything I burn the dull ache it lingers
And I don’t know if I’ll be able to complete
What other people do each day without noticing
And I don’t know if I’ll be able to compete
With when I feel these days about almost everything

One bad week for a life of breathing
A few nights lay awake for an eternity of sleeping
I wanna feel it now
Cough me in, breathe me in and spit me out

I am someone in your passenger seat
I’m your punching bag
I will let you kick the shit outta me
And I’ll hold your hand
I’ll be whatever you tell me to be
And I’ll understand

Breathing out cold air in my own house
And wondering why I couldn’t afford a solution to that by now
And I’m sure everything seems romantic
In reality it’s uncomfortable to deal with

Falling asleep every other afternoon
To the sound of being alone
And having nothing to do
And I’m sure moving in
Straight away made you feel safe
But it probably wasn’t great for my mental state

And one bad week for a life of breathing
A few nights lay awake for an eternity of sleeping
I wanna feel it now
Cough me in, breathe me in and spit me out

I am someone in your passenger seat
I’m your punching bag
I will let you kick the shit outta me
While I hold your hand
I’ll be whatever you tell me to be
And I’ll understand

If I can’t see a future for you without evil
A future for me without you will, only make it better
So I start hoping, that I stop smoking
Because the ducks are in a row and
This is my best chance to get my shit together

When I turned 25 I was terrified
Still haven’t learnt to do the dishes
My mum was my age when I became alive
So I stopped hoping and I quit smoking
Because the writing’s on the wall
And it’s been there for a while
And it sure is nice to remember things yeah

I am someone in your passenger seat
I’m your punching bag
I’ll let you kick the living shit outta me
And I’ll hold your hand
I am whatever you tell me to be
And I’ll understand”