The Lifeguard

Submarine

Swim-up Bar

“It’s about the death of retail,” says singer/lyricist Matt Graham, “how so many mall stores have gone out of business, leading to deadmalls–entire shopping centers left to decay when the final store leaves. It’s also about retail fatigue, something we can all identify with. You spend a few hours shopping. With all the sensory overload and decision-making, you suddenly feel like you can’t go on anymore.”

The three-minute song connects these two ideas with the image of The Grim Reaper coming up the escalator, using his sickle to harvest stores and souls who have been (pun intended) “malled to death”.

Swimwear Department commissioned a black-and-white rendering of this image by Steven Yoyada, an artist known for creating t-shirt and album art for psychedelic rock and metal bands.

Swimwear Department is not a metal band, but “Malled to Death” opens with an epic synth part that evokes 80s hair metal. “The synth part,” says Jeremy Grisbee (keys), “just started as a joke at the end of practice one day, but like so many other things with this band, we just took a really silly idea really seriously. We keep an ongoing list of punny song titles, and this keys part just felt like it had ‘Malled to Death’ vibes.”

They took an interesting tack in creating a music video for the song. Snippets of over a dozen 80s music videos were cut together in sync with the music and lyrics of the songs. To dodge any issues with licensing, the video is not titled “Malled to Death (official video)”. Instead? “Most Epic Music Video Moments in 80s Hair Metal!” It includes a shortened edit of the song.

They recorded the single in Houston with Grammy-winning producer/engineer Steve Christensen. “Steve gave us space to get weird, but also knew when to reign us in,” Graham recalls. “At one point the eulogy section was going to be a monk chant. We translated it into Latin and everything.”

Malled To Death

Cool Mall Stroll

Belly Flop

“Clothing Optional” has all the Swimwear Department stuff: nostalgic organ sounds, surfy beats you can dance to, blown out bass, and gang shouts galore! Oh, and of course it’s about shopping malls and swimming pools.

This time the lyrics address the mall and pool directly. “You don’t have to be a shopping mall anymore. You could be a righteous, faith-healing megachurch…and you don’t have to be a pool anymore, pool. I think you could make a kick-ass skatepark.”

As with most of their songs, there’s something deeper under the silly surface. The opening monologue encourages listeners. “You don’t have to be the one you’ve always been just because you spent your whole life being them. It’s optional!”

Clothing Optional

Shop!

Memall

We Need A Place

Hiram's remix of Swimwear Department's "At the Pool" captures the track's disco vibes. The song was originally recorded at 104 bpm, ironically, the same speed as the Bee Gees's "Stayin' Alive", a song commonly used as a rhythmic reference when performing CPR chest compressions to bring someone back from the dead. Add this one to all the Halloween party playlists. It's sure to become a spooky season classic alongside "Ghostbusters", "The Monster Mash" and "Thriller"?

At the Pool (Hiram Version)

At The Pool (Hiram Version)

Lyrics:

Seventeen suits discounted 99 percent
An offer like this will save a dollar
Makes no sense
You can't refuse a deal like this
You're hoarding all you can, but
Someone's always gotta pay, so
Someone else can win

The department marked it up
And then they dropped it to the bottom
To make the sweatshop bosses think they'd
Get the workers
Get the workers
Get the workers
Got 'em

Who stitched the polyester on that frumpy cover up?
Was it mother?
A Machine?
The Children?
Slaves?
God?
Dammit

(God, damn!)
You got a lifetime supply
(Ooh! Ooh!)
That you might not live to use
(Ooh! Ooh!)
You got that feeling that you're feeling
When you get a good deal on
(Seventeen swimsuits!)

20 years have passed
And now the suits are in the drawer
Six or eight you're saving
Eight or ten you wore
Poolside in Cancun
At the all-inclue resort
You can't pass on a good deal,
But someone had to pay for it

Seventeen suits discounted 99 percent
An offer like this will save a dollar
Makes no sense
You can't refuse a deal like this
You're hoarding all you can, but
Someone's always gotta pay, so
Someone else can win

(God, damn!)
You got a lifetime supply
(Ooh! Ooh!)
That you might not live to use
(Ooh! Ooh!)
You got that feeling that you're feeling
When you get a good deal on
(Seventeen swimsuits!)

Turn Over! Go Under!

Seventeen Swimsuits

Lyrics:

Everything changes with all the days that pass
A different ship will sail around
This old vessel's mast
Each nail
Each board
Each sailor replaced
Same colors
Same course
Same figurehead 
Same name
Turn over
Go under
Each store where I used to shop
When I was just a little kids
And I hung around this mall
Turn over
Go under
Is this mall still the same
If all the stores
And the shoppers
And the workers have all changed?

Blockbuster
Mars Music
Border's Books and CD World
Hasting's 
Hollywood Video
Sam Goody 
Tower Records
Babbage's and Game Stop
JC Penny, Macy's, Sears
American Apparel and Guess Jeans
Abercrombie and Payless
American Eagle Outfitters
Circuit City
Radio Shack
Gadzooks and Books-A-Million
The Limited
The Gap

And what about me, myself?
Different cells in seven years
Will I be the same person
Just because I am still here?

Everything changes with all the days that pass
A different ship will sail around
This old vessel's mast
Each nail
Each board
Each sailor replaced
Same colors
Same course
Same figurehead 
Same name

The Limited, The Gap

Splish! Splash! What in the pool was that?

At The Pool

Swimwear Department plays songs about two topics: swimming and the mall. Your donations will help us produce more video content. When we make videos, we get to pay local camera-people and editors whose gigs have been canceled.

Swimwear Department

Popular tracks