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Standout Track: Infinitely danceable and harkening back to classic funk and soul, “Shack-It”–the fourth track on Lookout Gang’s recently released EP, Silent Rising–tells a familiar story of love and loss. Telling the story of the end of a relationship, the verse provides details as to how things went wrong. “This song was pretty much about somebody who was in a one-sided relationship, putting in all of the work and not getting anything back,” says singer Alex Margulies. Coming to a head in the chorus and resigned to the end of the relationship, Margulies sings, “Say what you want/But we’re done/We’re lost.”
Musical Motivation: Although a lot of classic soul and funk make use of heartbreak as a thematic element (which Lookout Gang is definitely emulating in “Shack-It”), much of Silent Rising looks beyond the initial feelings of angst, anger, and sadness, and toward what comes after. “Silent Rising has a kind of theme of redemption to it,” Margulies says. “ An ‘I’m getting over something,’ and “Shack-It” is sort of declarative [of that theme].” Instrumentally, the track takes a great deal from classic funk and soul as well, with a well-defined beat and melody working together to move each other along.
Coming Together: Despite being the fourth track on Silent Rising, “Shack-It” was the first song that Lookout Gang wrote together with its current lineup. “The band existed before I came along and replaced the lead singer,” says Margulies, “and it was the first song that we as a band created together that wasn’t pretty much designed already.” The fact that “Shack-It”–and the rest of Silent Rising, for that matter–provides a showcase for some truly solid performances is no coincidence. As Margulies notes, the songs are “fun to play and everybody has a technically difficult part, and it all comes together as a nice collection of musicians.”
Lookout Gang plays the Black Squirrel in Adams Morgan on July 16th. Listen to “Shack-It” after the jump.