In the tradition of recent songs by fellow Seattle groups Nail Polish, Childbirth, and Tacocat bemoaning the negative impact the influx of tech bros has had on this city's culture, the Gods Themselves weigh in with "Tech Boys" off their sparkling, hedonistic new album, Be My Animal (out January 17, 2017). The local trio—vocalist/guitarist Astra Elane, baritone guitarist/vocalist Dustin Patterson, and drummer Collin O'Meara—call out all the apps that these new masters of the universe should develop (gentrification, desperation, humiliation, intoxication, isolation, and other -ations) to deal with their shortcomings. Musically, "Tech Boys" is a gloriously strutting number that does the splits in a silver jumpsuit between disco's coiled rhythmic efficiency and neo-glam rock's bawdiness. "You gotta feel that rhythm, that algorithm," Patterson sings with caustic knowingness.
THE GODS THEMSELVES - Tech Boys from The Gods Themselves on Vimeo.
In a press statement, the God Themselves elaborate on the song's inspiration:
Tech Boys have infested Seattle. Baritone guitarist Dustin Patterson had a first hand experience during a brief stint at Amazon, one of many tech empires in the Emerald City. The town is flooded with these high paid, aloof, coder kids. They are stylish and sporty yet glib. They work overtime and drink heavily. Entitlement is their motto. The tech boy invasion has pushed many of the artists out of town due to jacked up rents and although we enjoy the surge in competitive gourmet artisan coffee houses and food trucks, we are pretty bitter towards these cats.
The 206-centric anti-tech-worker anthem is becoming a genre unto itself. Don't be surprised if by next year a compilation of such songs surfaces on some enterprising Seattle indie label.