On October 12, the Persian Leaps will release Pop That Goes Crunch (Land Ski), an 18-song compilation of material culled from the band’s five EPs. It’s not surprising the Saint Paul, Minn., trio chose the fall to issue this anthology. Between 2013 and last year, the Drew Forsberg-led outfit has released a new five-song EP each autumn: debut Praise Elephants (’13), Drive Drive Delay (’14), High & Vibrate (’15), Underwater (’16) and Bicycle Face (’17). Pop That Goes Crunch collects 17 remixed/remastered tracks from these five releases as well as one new single.
“Not That Brave” is from Praise Elephants, and soon after its release, the Persian Leaps performed the song live on the University Of Minnesota’s Radio K. Forsberg and Co. thought the live version was far superior to the EP version, so the band took the drums, bass and lead-guitar tracks from the radio performance and Forsberg redid the vocals and the rest of the guitars to create a new take on the song.
Lyrically, “Not That Brave” is as relevant today as when it was written and originally recorded. Says Forsberg, “It’s a song about bystander effect—the phenomenon where you’re less likely to help a victim when other people are present. In 2012, I was riding on a Metro train in Paris and saw what appeared to be a group of teenage boys bullying an awkward-looking, possibly gay man. My French was hopeless, so I couldn’t be sure, but from the body language, it looked like the boys were loudly saying cruel things about the man standing near them while he kept his gaze down, blushed and did his best to ignore them. Of course, I wasn’t brave enough to speak up and stop them, and I felt guilty about it afterward. So, the song is based on that moment where you know you should help someone, but you just aren’t brave enough to actually do it.”
We are proud to premiere “Not That Brave (Radio K Version)” today on magnetmagazine.com. Check it out now.
