Sometimes songs are like jokes: They lose their power when you try to explain them. That's why I'm hesitant to ask Natalia Rogovin, keyboardist and main singer for local quartet Social Studies, about the meaning behind her words. But I have to. Because I've been listening to the group's debut EP, This Is the World's Biggest Hammer (out late last year on Homeroom Records), incessantly for weeks now, and I still have no real idea what the lyrics are about.
Social Studies: schooling cassanovas.
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This conundrum isn't just one of artful lyricism. It has to do with the band's music, which is so twisty and turny and hooky that it's hard to pay attention to the phrasings. Social Studies is one of those acts that stuffs enough ideas for three songs into one track, shifting gears repeatedly until your head is spinning and your toes are tapping. Start with Rogovin's Casio, which flits from sweet, twee melodies à la Pram to thick, bristling noise (re: Broadcast or Silver Apples). Add in Aaron Weiss' jittery guitar, which moves from post-punk janka-jank to primo '90s indie riffage. Multiply by Darren Henry's dubby bass playing, and factor in Mike Jirkovsky's drumming, which manages to move from busy math-rock fills to fluid funk beats. Finish it all off with Rogovin's vocals (and the band's three- and four-part harmonies), which swing from neo-rap speak-singing to sweet Björk-ian crooning, and you have one complex sound.
"We spent a long time on the structure and dynamics of the songs," Rogovin explains via phone.
The foursome was so intent on its music that the members didn't even have a moniker at first. "We didn't come up with the name Social Studies until well after we had written a lot of the songs, and we had actually written a lot of the music without any lyrics," Rogovin says. "But when we came up with the name, that informed everything else. ... A lot of the lyrics are references to historical situations or discussing human nature and history. A lot of them have political content, but it's not really in your face, it's just more of a commentary on the past and how it informs the present."
Some of the references are easier to spot than others. "Theme Song" is most likely the catchiest (or only) tune to name-drop Cleopatra, Kubla Khan, Copernicus, Mary Magdalene, andNapoleon, while "Casanova Part I & II" draws obvious inspiration from the famed lady killer (although it suggests that his lifestyle was less fulfilling than believed). But you'd have to listen pretty hard to figure out that "Sparrow" is inspired by Amelia Earhart, and you'd probably have to Google the title of "Cardioid" to find out that it's a heart-shaped bell curve. You don't need a Ph.D. in physics or history to appreciate these songs, though. "Cardioid," in fact, is a rather heartbreaking little number, with Rogovin and Weiss trading lines about a couple's inability to "integrate" their "functions." And "Mason Dixon," with its bluesy George Harrison guitar riff, sprawling keyboard part, and shouts of "One!" perfectly captures the separation anxiety (and euphoria) that comes from ending a relationship.
Mostly, the group succeeds because Social Studies' music is so exuberant. "As a band, we don't take ourselves as seriously as it may seem," says Rogovin. "We want a mix between interesting structures and dynamics ... and really fun, emotionally engaging hooks."
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