The Roselines describe ‘Saber Rattlers‘ as a direct response to their earlier song ‘Hot Dice‘ and it finds songwriter and singer Colin Halliburton in reflective mood – questioning how compassion became something to mark out the enemy? The issues raised here is what happens in a family dynamic when politics get in he way: “used make fun of those married couples at each other’s throats / swore we’d never be that miserable.”
Colin Halliburton explains the song further with: “‘Saber Rattlers’ was born during a soundcheck in Falkenberg, Sweden when Bradley McKellip played the riff you hear opening the song. He recorded it on the voice memo app on his phone and when we returned home from tour he took that riff and built an entire song’s chord progression around it. I then wrote the melody and lyrics and then the band dressed it up. It was a really satisfying experiment to see a song through to the end from its origin as a single riff all the way to a finished song. Musically, it harkens back to the stuff I grew up on in the 90’s alt-rock and alt-country scenes. RIYL Gin Blossoms, Lemonheads, early Wilco, and Whiskeytown. Lyrically, it is almost a companion piece to the last single we released, ‘Hot Dice’. Again we find the narrator virtue signaling, but here we find them not only killing the vibe but also neglecting the people closest to them. Fight the powers that be, of course, but don’t forget to show up for your family. The opening line may be the most punk thing I’ve ever written.”
