There is a vividness to the production on Springworks’ latest single “Snake Oil Salesman.” It’s a nice touch for a song about the kind of people who try to fool people into believing in something that is patently untrue but profitable for the person peddling misleading claims. We see this all the time in politics, in the way our economic systems are run and the ways in which people have been tricked into a way of living that involves constantly having to market yourself for clout because there are social incentives for building clout even if it really amounts to very little. Musically the song is like a weird mix of garage rock and New Wave with some buzzy guitar work and atmospheric vocals in the chorus. But underlying the music are currents of Flying Lizards’ cover of “Money (That’s What I Want)” and a deft allusion to Pete Shelley’s 1981 hit “Homosapien.” The scratchy guitar riff that runs throughout sounds like a sound effect for a frazzled end wire that is sparking on and off electricity like the way electronic signals in binary fashion communicate but in the song it has the effect of embodying a disconnect with oneself and the world around you yet it has its own catchy appeal like the touch of psychedelic melody that is at the core of the song. Overall it’s a layered commentary on how we have come to accept the dynamic of being lied to and the incredibly pervasive presence of marketing culture on all levels of actual culture while also playfully suggesting we can unplug from that way of being and to pull back the curtain on the charlatans that plague us. The title alone highlights how what can seem new now in society has in fact been a part of public life since as long as we can remember with figures of speech that capture the phenomenon perfectly. Watch the video for “Snake Oil Salesman” on YouTube and follow Springworks at the links below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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