Following their packed-out headline show at QUARRY, and recent shows alongside TV Priest and Alien Chicks, Liverpool-based alt rock band alright (okay) have returned with their second single of 2024 with the stomping “anti-9 to 5 rager” Elevator Etiquette, released on 23 August.
Recorded at 3rd Planet Studios with Andy Ferinhough, the track is a roaring tune driven by blaring guitar riffs, heavy drums, and a tempo moving at an urgent pace, akin to the ‘8:15 stampede’.
Stylistically raw and unpolished, the band create a dense, loose alt-rock sound. “Part man, part rottweiler” vocalist Alex Usher lays down aggressive spoken-word vocals, with lyrics that explore feeling undervalued within the workplace and “negative office culture”. The verses pour out with frustration: “Strapped for cash, working just above minimum wage / I write 3000 words and I call it a day”.
The chorus contrasts previous sections with the introduction of a new voice, Will Booth’s softer vocals bringing an authoritative, yet flattened tone, with lyrics that pressure the previous narrator into conformity: “Got elevator etiquette / There’s something you could learn from it“. The contrast between these sections carry a feeling of conflict through the track, like a tug of war between two internal voices – one which conforms to, and the other which resists this pressure.
The track reaches boiling point during a bridge section, where Alex’s intense vocals ignite the track into a frenzied breakdown: “I’m going down, down, down!” Cooling to a simmer, the track ends with a sense of defeat. Now exhausted, the narrator has conceded to the pressure, before the cycle starts over again: “A lie-in tomorrow is all I really need“.
In discussing the track, Alex explains that Elevator Etiquette has “quickly become a fan favourite in the set” of the band’s live shows. It’s “one of the first tracks we play”, “sending as much energy as possible into the crowd and them giving it right back to us”.
Regarding inspiration for the lyrics, Alex explains; “I was working at this place where the work culture wasn’t great. One day the whole company just dissolved so I was out of a job. After finding out the news I headed to the pub around the corner, grabbed myself a Guinness and stared writing. The lyrics were pretty much complete by the time I was onto buying my second pint!”
The band have built an underground following through their viciously energetic live performances in sweaty basement venues across the North West, road-testing their new and unreleased material to rowdy crowds. Hot on the heels of the single’s release, the band will be heading to Future Now Festival on 24 August, and will be playing alongside the likes of Everything Everything, The Lovely Eggs, Chalk, and Man/Woman/Chainsaw.
Stream Elevator Etiquette now and check out alright (okay) on Instagram – @alrightokayband for updates.
