Rob Moss is back with a new single that is hitting me really hard. Moss, whom many of you know from his days with Government Issue and Artificial Peace, has established himself as a unique and prolific lead artist in recent years. "The More I Scroll" takes his distinctively gruff punk rock/post-punk style and weaves in the spiritual influence of Johnny Cash.
Listening to this song, I felt like Moss had somehow accessed my own dark thoughts. As the title suggests, the song is about doom scrolling. Moss sings about how his phone is full of depressing, troubling, and anxiety-inducing content — and the worse it gets, the more he's drawn to it. That's exactly the way it is for me and millions of others. We are literally addicted to technology — even when what that technology has to offer is really bad for our mental and physical health. And as Moss points out in this song, this endless doom scrolling makes us tune out many of the things in our lives that are actually really great. We just keep getting sucked deeper and deeper into the vortex of misery.
Ultimately, though, the message of the song ends up being positive. There's a way out of this: just put the phone down! Perhaps that's easier said than done given the addictive nature of social media, but it can be done (as Moss sings) if we try. I do see the irony of me talking about the virtues of staying off of smartphones when I do a blog that many of you read and listen to on your smartphones. I often go onto social media to discover new music or find out what some of my favorite bands are up to. But it's the moderation I struggle with. One minute, I'm just going to check a couple things. The next thing you know, I'm caught up in all the rage bait, blatant misinformation, and toxic discourse and feeling really hopeless about the world. So yeah, I sure do see the value in staying off that phone as much as I can. Thank you, Rob Moss, for the jolt of hope!
While Rob Moss is always going to sound like Rob Moss, "The More I Scroll" does find him offering his own take on a Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Three sound (think boom-chicka-boom drums, a walking bass line, and some country-ish lead guitar). Moss also does his best to emulate The Man In Black's vocal phrasing without resorting to straight-up imitation. By singing the song mostly in the first person singular and then switching to first person plural at the end, Moss makes the song immensely relatable. His own battle with social media addiction is something most of us know all too well, and his way out of the hole can be ours as well. A lot of what he's singing about is pretty dark, but it's all pointing towards the light. And who doesn't love some punkified Johnny Cash energy? All in all, this is one of Moss's best songs to date!
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