Self-proclaimed soul punk band You, Me, And Everyone We Know - project of Benjamin Liebsch (pronouns: He/Him or They/Them; Ben is non-binary) - is back with "draggedacrossconcrete" ft. Colins "Bear" Regisford (bassist of Mannequin Pussy), a taste of new music after 2019's "(Still) Basically A God," and 2020's "Ram Dass Dick Pics."
Liebsch tells FLOOD (who premiered the single/video) that "before realizing basic goodness and how essential we all are to existence," they doubted they would ever "feel a sense of belonging anywhere likely due to being taught to feel a sort of shame for existing." Since 2016, when the band had previously called it quits, a lot has changed in Liebsch's journey with their own mental health. With the help of therapy, they've begun to unpack traumas that informed a lot of the perspective of past material and understand the impact those traumas had on their development as a person. Liebsch has said that You, Me, and Everyone We Know is what has kept them alive through all of the "peaks and valleys of human existence." This project has allowed them to explore facets of their own reality in a way that might have otherwise been unavailable to them. Liebsch's cathartic wails in "draggedacrossconcrete" attest to this.
Their existential frustration permeates as they describe the constant state of "low-level terror" from PTSD that they've experienced over many days, though less frequent than they once were. Liebsch adds, "Sometimes you're angry and sad and desperate and dealing with a flimsy grip on reality all at the same time. There was, and IS now and again, a scream inside me that I felt would kill me if I ever let it out and yet sometimes at the same time there are no words. The chorus is meant to symbolize that scream." Colins "Bear" Regisford (bassist of Mannequin Pussy) is featured yelling on the track, to which Liebsch says, "He is a mythical person in near mint condition with no abrasions."
Liebsch tells of often hearing phrases (whether it be from a podcast, commercial, or elsewhere in everyday life) differently than they are intended, but it often bears creative fruit, "draggedacrossconcrete" is an amalgamation of these. The line in the song "We all die, why not do it in a parking lot" they say is from a commercial that Kenny Beats made with Zach Fox about his merch on an episode of "The Cave". The phrase "First terror, then lunch" is an off handed comment comedian Pete Holmes made on his "You Made It Weird" podcast once. The use of French in the chorus - 'l'appel du vide" - is a tiny homage to Christine and The Queens, which Liebsch says is a French term for the call of the void; "the phenomenon that occurs where people are on a high place and have the urge to jump." "I'm cutting holes in a bedsheet" is a reference to the supernatural film A Ghost Story. Liebsch adds, "I sneak in a little confidence at the end as well, making meta commentary about how I feel about the strength of these [upcoming] songs." The song title is pulled from the neo-noir crime thriller of the same name, "For a long time, I felt like being dragged across concrete," they say.
Each new incarnation of You, Me, and Everyone We Know has featured a cavalcade of incredible musicians that have helped flesh out entirely new pocket dimensions of sound for figurehead Benjamin Liebsch to call home -- even if only temporarily. "draggedacrossconcrete" is only the beginning of what's to come with this new perspective and Liebsch excitedly welcomes in this new era.
You, Me, and Everyone We Know's new single/video "draggedacrossconcrete" is out today.
