Song of the Week: Black Torpedo

I distinctly remember the late February morning when Black Torpedo was released, because the sudden realization that it was drop day startled me out of a sound sleep. I rolled over, slapping blindly at the end table where my phone had been charging, and somehow managed to navigate the Bandcamp app in a semi-conscious state long enough to download the song without even sitting up. When it finished playing, I also distinctly remember saying “that's nice” out loud in an empty room (bonus points if you read that in Mrs. Brown's voice) and then promptly rolling over on top of my phone and falling asleep again. What I didn't remember (apart from the muffled cries of my alarm going off), was doing any of that a few hours later when I actually woke up for real. When next I opened my phone, I had no concept of what day it was and I couldn't figure out why the Bandcamp app was left open, so I got to be surprised by release day all over again! Who says there are no perks to having a bad memory?

Obviously it all came back to me when I played the song for the second time. I instantly remembered the infectious groove and piercing lyrics, but whenever I think about Black Torpedo now, I always remember it as the song I downloaded while practically sleepwalking because I was too excited to wait until I was burdened by lucidity.

On this episode of Simmering with Soulboy, we get front row seats to watch Zac barbeque some burgers after carving the name of the track into a slice of cheese for cinematic value... As one does. If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about the boundless levels of creativity the Skinner Brothers have to offer, I don't know what else to tell you. But for me personally, anyone that uses cheese as an artistic medium is alright in my book. Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate how long it must have taken to sort through an entire can of Spaghettios, find all the letters needed for the lyrics, and then spell the whole thing out one word at a time in front of a camera?

That's a luxurious, pre-parenthood level of free time right there. Did you know that some cans of Spaghettios don’t even contain all the letters of the alphabet? Well now you do, because if ADHD has me Googling this weird shit in the middle of the night I’ll be damned if I’m not taking you all down with me. Imagine getting halfway through the song and realizing you needed a Q or something—Would you just change the lyrics of the song at that point so it wouldn't be a complete waste of effort, or would you double down and start sorting a second can? These are the things that keep me up at night. Unfortunately we may never know the answer, because people just don't write their lyrics in canned pasta like they used to.

Smile as I walk by, but that's hiding all the pain in my eyes

I vaguely remember Zac describing this song as being one of the more difficult ones he's released in recent history (I'm paraphrasing a bit here—I believe the term he used was 'ball ache'), but it was also a major steppingstone in the evolution of this new genre of music I'm not sure he realizes that he's pioneering yet. Black Torpedo is a refreshing splash of ice cold punk on a hot summer's day— Like many other Skinner Brothers songs, it's not just exhilarating, it's urgent and cathartic.

The release of Black Torpedo was a pivotal moment that exemplified the growth of the Skinner Brothers without straying too far from the gritty indie rock flair that generally defines them. A testament to the band's emotional depth, the lyrics quickly drag you down into a sea of inner turmoil and self-doubt. The opening line goes straight for the throat by describing the necessity to mask your vulnerability in public for reasons that are not immediately disclosed— and yet we all understand, because we have all been there.

Standing on a cliff edge feel that knife in my back again

The song also touches on themes of trust issues, with lines like “feel that knife in my back again” suggesting that getting stabbed in the back while teetering on the edge of an emotional precipice is a common occurrence that should have been anticipated. The Skinner Brothers have a knack for identifying negative feelings like spiraling into depression, labeling them something fun like “falling with style” that almost makes the plunge sound favorable, and then somehow making you look forward to the descent. I can hear my mother now, asking “if the Skinner Brothers jumped off a bridge would you jump too?” Hell yeah I would. I'll do a backflip and see you on the bottom— they'll have you believing that's where most great stories begin anyway.

But despite the heaviness of the lyrics, the Skinner Brothers still deliver their trademark energy. The explosive guitars and hammering drums create an entire heartbeat for the song that instantly hooks you, making you want to bring the nightclub energy right into your living room. Black Torpedo dominates in a lane of its own, considering the weight of the lyrics in comparison to the riotous charge of the music itself. Raw emotion is laid out before you like an exposed nerve daring you to make contact, but it's subtly camouflaged by screaming guitars and an uptempo beat that drags you out of your chair and makes you dance like you're getting paid to do it. It's like that one friend that hides behind humor as a coping mechanism when their lives are secretly falling apart— but with guitars!

And speaking of guitars, having the camera mounted on top of one while it was being played to film the video was a brilliant idea. Not only did it allow us to see a bit more of the production process, but the camera angle also felt precarious and a bit invasive, which somehow fits the overall mood of the song perfectly.

Crush my ego, death is calling me

That has to be one of the most intriguing lines of the song, because on one hand “crush my ego” could simply be referring to a humbling experience that reminds you to stay true to your roots and not get too ahead of yourself, but from a psychological standpoint, the ego also represents our baseline personality. Crushing or destroying the ego (as a torpedo may tend to do) would leave us with only the more primal id, or overly cautious superego constantly at war with themselves inside our mind. It would create a hellacious mental landscape that would consume and eventually destroy us, reducing everything in its wake to ash—or cause you to rise like a phoenix from it, as the song proudly insinuates. Whether intentional or not, I like my entendres like I like my whiskey (doubled), and Black Torpedo manages to scratch that itch in the most unexpected way.

Black Torpedo feels like an anthem for the underdogs and black sheep of the world, brimming with shameless self-determination. When life has you backed into a corner and is trying to beat you down, it is the triumphant war cry that reminds you that mamma didn’t raise no quitter. Not only are you going to get through this, but you’re coming out swinging, even if it means taking a round out of death himself along the way. It's the faint glimmer of light that drives the shadows out of the human psyche and dusts the cobwebs off of what little remains of hope.

It's also just a really cool song.

☘️🖤

Lyrics courtesy of Bandcamp

Smile as I walk by
But that's hiding all the pain in my eyes,
I catch feelings for every girl that walks by,
I take a drink each time I don't feel myself but we ride on

Now I don't even feel no pain,
Hanging on a cliff edge feel that
Knife in my back in my back again,
Falling with style in my

Black torpedo,
Save me from myself I don't know me,
Step inside the machine then please
Crush my ego - death is calling me,
I don't know why - he wants me on his side

Try as I might try,
I got nothing but the clothes on my back mind,
I'm clucking for that blow so come free my,
Heart it should be locked in a zoo on Mars
And left to die

Now I don't even feel no way,
Brain hanging upside down like,
Look into the mirror so vain,
Falling with style in my

Black torpedo,
Save me from myself I don't know me,
Step inside the machine then please
Crush my ego - death is calling me,
I don't know why - he wants me on his side

You don't know the half of it
Shade so black when love don't fit,
Give a damn don't give a shit
It's all the same to me