B-Side Guys

Freedom rarely arrives with such unadorned simplicity. Ten Foot Pole’s “Yeah Yeah” operates like a conversation overheard through thin apartment walls—intimate, immediate, and surprisingly profound in its refusal to complicate basic human truths. While the band notes their release timing wasn’t planned around Pride Month, the coincidence feels fitting for a self-described “weird old band” crafting something that feels both timelessly retro and urgently contemporary.

The track’s vintage 70s soul foundation carries obvious Lou Reed and Sly Stone DNA, but 10 Foot Pole’s approach prioritizes warmth over coolness. Willie’s guitar solo provides the track’s most technically impressive moment, yet even this showcase serves the song’s communal spirit rather than individual virtuosity. The nu-disco elements pulse beneath lyrics that read like family dinner table discussions, creating fascinating tension between dancefloor energy and living room intimacy.

Lyrically, the band constructs a world where coming out conversations happen between characters who feel like real people rather than symbols. The progression from Tanya and Donna’s pajama party to the ultimate question—”Have you told our Mamma?”—captures the full emotional arc of self-acceptance and family revelation. The repetitive “Yeah Yeah, Yeah Yeah” chorus functions less as hook than as communal affirmation, the kind of response friends offer when words become insufficient.

What strikes most powerfully is the song’s matter-of-fact approach to profound personal territory. Lines like “To love like a brother / You’ve got to be free” present family acceptance as prerequisite rather than achievement. The band avoids both tragic victimization and rainbow-flag triumphalism, instead creating space for the messy, ongoing work of being authentic within existing relationships.

The production choices support this grounded approach perfectly. The funk elements provide irresistible groove while retro soul textures add emotional depth without nostalgic sentimentality. Everything serves the central message that liberation begins with small conversations and builds through repetitive affirmation.

“Yeah Yeah” succeeds as both dancefloor anthem and kitchen-table confessional, proving that the most radical political statements often sound like the most ordinary human conversations.