Melbourne four-piece The Rollercanes return with ‘Cops on Bikes’, an exploration of pointless jobs and accepting what you are.
Do you ever look at someone doing their job and just think “what the fuck are they doing?”
It’s inevitable. There are so many people doing so much work across the world, we’re bound to be befuddled by the professions some people have landed in, and seemingly enjoy.
This served as the inspiration for Melbourne rockers The Rollercanes, who triumphantly released their new single, ‘Cops on Bikes’, on Monday morning.
Speaking with lead singer and songwriter Dan Wright, he told Frockup the idea came from an experience he had making his way to work in Richmond.
“I was on my way to work and I saw a bunch of cops on mountain bikes going down Swan Street in the middle of peak hour traffic, trying to pull people over,” he laughed.
“Nothing was moving, it was causing a massive hazard and I just thought it seemed really pointless.”
With the spark lit and the name ‘Cops on Bikes’ firmly placed in his mind, Wright got to work hammering out the song, only to realise it was quickly turning into a self-reflection on his own feelings of pointlessness as an artist.
“I started to write and was working on the chorus, but once I got into it, I started to realise I was writing about feeling pointless as a musician and an artist,” he continued. “Drawing the parallel between the two, by the end of the song, you get the feeling about how to accept that you are who you are, and doing what you’re signed up for, whether it be as an artist, or a cop on a bike.”
Accompanying Wright’s lyrics are the usual raucous guitar riffs from Bek Nafiz, steady basslines of Ryan Laughlin and tight drumming of Josh Tucker, all in all creating a catchy, relatable ear-worm you’ll be humming for the rest of the day.
Released on Monday exclusively through Bandcamp, all proceeds raised from the new track will go directly towards Change the Record, a national Aboriginal led justice coalition of legal, health and family violence prevention experts.
Wright said the decision was made to release the song in this manner with hopes of shining a light on a seldom spotlighted organisation doing important work within the community.
“They’re a really great organisation that are working towards putting solutions in place that will help build strong communities for Indigenous people,” he said.
“They need resources, backing and awareness to make sure they can do what they do effectively and turn these ideas into a reality.”
Moving forward, it’s all up in the air for the band, with Wright unable to confirm much regarding future projects.
“It’s hard to say,” Wright continued.
“We’ve got some music that could be on the way in the next few months, but with everything going on, I don’t want to jinx anything,” he laughed.
Visit Bandcamp to purchase ‘Cops on Bikes’ and check out some other tracks from one of the favourites of the Melbourne rock scene.
