Title: “Revolt/Resist” (feat. Rum & Coke)
By: Riot! In The Boulevard
From: Boycott Love: Hostile Takeover Edition
Release Date: December 13, 2015
Length: 5:17
Format: CD Single, Digital Download, 7” Single, Weekly Airplay
Recorded: Half-Moon Studios, Las Vegas, Nevada – November 2015
Genre: Pop-Punk, Alternative Rock, Rap
Label: Studio60 Records
Writer(s): Amy Meyer, Adam Benjamin, Jason Greenberg, Nina “Rum” Tarantino, Airemese “Coke” Smith
Producer(s): Riot! In The Boulevard, Avil Hartman

“Revolt/Resist” is a song written by American pop-punk trio ‘Riot! In The Boulevard’, originally written in mid-2015 for their album “Boycott Love” it was remixed and reworked by the rap duo ‘Rum & Coke’ for the rock groups remixed version of their album, titled “Hostile Takeover”. The initial lyric and theme of the song came from writers Amy Meyer, Adam Benjamin and Jason Greenberg while this latest incarnation of the song includes lyrics written by Rum & Coke. It will be released as the lead single from “Hostile Takeover” and marks the fifth single released from the Alternative Rock group since their return to the music industry in early 2015. It’s a rare thing for Riot! In The Boulevard to collaborate with anybody, having only had three other musicians feature on their music in their five years of being in the music industry and with the upcoming release of the remix album, it looks like the trio are set to try out some new things, potentially in order to spice up their careers and find new ways of finding inspiration from other genres.

In a recent interview with Alternative Press Magazine, the band announced the collaboration album and spoke at length about working alongside the likes of Rum & Coke, “I think we’ve always been interested in seeing how our music can interact with other styles, but it’s not something we’ve ever looked at in any real sort of depth. We’ve heard cover versions of our songs done by other people in different styles and have always been mightily impressed with the outcomes but we’ve never actually gone out there and tried to look at what else could be done with our own material. But after recording “Boycott Love” we considered the thought of releasing a remix album with some of our favourite artists out there as we were intrigued to see what other people would do with our own songs and how they would interpret them in their own individual ways which has not been the easiest thing to do if we’re honest.
Then it was considered that a theme could be made with this remix version of our record, we threw around the idea of that hostile takeover theme. Obviously when we made our return, we returned with the track “This is a Hostile Takeover” and then it was put forward to us the idea that we could get a bunch of the top rap and hip-hop artists around right now to remix these songs and add their own flavour to them and it all seemed to connect perfectly and with the “Hostile Takeover” theme it just worked.
One of the first remixed tracks that we completed was the one that Rum & Coke worked on and musically it was just exactly what we were looking for when we decided to start working on that new album. We took the time out, because we were exhausted and burnt out and to be totally honest, we were creatively bored. Working alongside these artists has given us a reminder of what it should be like every time we step into a recording booth or onto a stage, that level of anticipation and excitement is what we were hoping to re-discover when we came back into the fold earlier this year and we have to thank everybody who featured on the album for helping us out.”

“Revolt/Resist” (feat. Rum & Coke) will be the fifth single released from Riot! In The Boulevard in 2015 and marks the first track to be released from the remixed version of their 2015 album “Boycott Love: The Hostile Takeover”. This version of the song was recorded in late November at Half-Moon Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada. This version of the song was written, recorded and produced by Riot! In The Boulevard and Rum & Coke and will be released on December 13, 2015 as a CD Single, Digital Download and 7” Single and will be distributed through Studio60 Records.

---

DESCRIPTION;

The song starts off in a very sombre mood, the sound of acoustic guitar strings can be heard faintly behind the melodic keys of a piano. There is a repetitive beat that can be heard in the background, which adds a little more energy to the track. As opposed to the original version of the song, the opening verse begins with lead vocals from Rum as she raps over the melodic backdrop, “Time flies, she screws everybody too/Poison like Bell Biv Devoe, it’s always showtime, but back then it was all for 2/Blood pact, bond could never come loose like we were messing with voodoo/Friends on the other side, I could’ve sworn I had you/Now I’m tryna walk my own path, trying to figure out how to survive without getting hurt/If I can't make it out with you by my side, I can't be the one to kick up the dirt/What we had was left to kick the dirt, now I gotta leave you in the dust/Departing without words, could've sworn there was a little more to us/Is this really all there is to the endings?/Some people get to say goodbye, other's get destroyed by the feelings?/Some people move on, others are turned into pillars?/Rubbing salt in my wounds, hoping my goodbye won’t turn into a filler.”
With the beautiful tones of the piano keys playing straight into the opening verse and Amy’s honest lyrics, “The years we spent together seem to be worth nothing now/A former friend has turned to enemy/And it seems I’m just left here wondering how/You said a lot has changed since then/And people grow apart/But I still think back to the promises made/For both of us to never part.” and it’s clear for those that are looking for the digs and hints towards the unpleasant exit of both Justin and Nathan Mullen, this song has that in abundance. It makes for an interesting moment hearing Amy sings these lyrics, as it feels less like a song and more like somebody reading torn out pages from a diary. But nevertheless the lyrics say things very clearly.

As the second verse arrives we are met with a lead guitar and bass combination to add a little more urgency and fire into the heart of the song. Turning the sombre mood into more of an angry goodbye as Amy’s voice raises to louder levels and she bellows out, “Messes form inside open hearts/And things often end before they start/But they say the good things are what will remain/But I’m left feeling nothing but pain/And I hate to say goodbye/It’s just not for me/I hate to say goodbye/To someone that meant so much to me.” and you can’t help but feel like we’re seeing classic elements of Riot! In The Boulevard at work here, they’re writing songs directly about their life but making the lyrics open to be interpreted in a way that their young audience can relate them to their own life. It’s a tried and tested formula. And as the music picks up its energy once more, we’re met with another additional verse, this time coming from the other half of the rap duo, Coke. She clears her throat before she fires out the following lyrics, “But if you were to just/Tell me what it all meant, I'd get the jist/Here's to the kids who destroyed a darkness in it's darkest/It shouldn't be hard to revolt or, revolt or../Grab my arm/And remind me of those times we were armed/To face way bigger than this/I just need you to revolt or, revolt or resist.”

And as the music continues to power into life, we are suddenly hit with a stop as the guitars and piano come to halt. A couple of seconds of silence is then met with loud repetitive drum beats as Amy sings over them the songs chorus, “Revolt or resist/Is this all there is?/Revolt or resist/Is this all there is?/Revolt or resist/Is this all there is?.” it’s short and repetitive and catchy and it’s taken directly from the path used on the bands debut album, where the mentality was to just put as many catchy choruses in their songs as possible, it worked a treat back then and it seems to do the job here. It gives you a break from the emotional lyrics and gives you something that you can easily sing along to, even if you don’t know the song.
And as the chorus ends, we’re joined by the rhythm and bass guitar to set the scene for the final stages of the song and again the emotional side of the song appears once again, “It’s hard to walk away from someone/When you feel like there’s still something there/It’s hard to give up all you love/But you realize they just don’t seem to care/And they don’t talk to you any more/They don’t smile at you like they used to do/They don’t even remember your name/You only have yourself to blame.” and with that the song begins to fade out with the repetitive chorus once again.

---

LYRICS;

Riot! In The Boulevard
Rum
Coke

Time flies, she screws everybody too
Poison like Bell Biv Devoe, it's always showtime, but back then it was all for 2
Blood pact, bond could never come loose like we were messing with voodoo
Friends On the Other Side, I could've sworn I had you
Now I'm tryna walk my own path, trying to figure out how to survive without getting hurt
If I can't make it out with you by my side, I can't be the one to kick up the dirt
What we had was left to kick the dirt, now I gotta leave you in the dust
Departing without words, could've sworn there was a little more to us
Is this really all there is to the endings?
Some people get to say goodbye, other's get destroyed by the feelings?
Some people move on, others are turned into pillars?
Rubbing salt in my wounds, hoping my goodbye wont turn into a filler

The years we spent together seem to be worth nothing now
A former friend has turned to enemy
And it seems I’m just left here wondering how
You said a lot has changed since then
And people grow apart
But I still think back to the promises made
For both of us to never part

Messes form inside open hearts
And things often end before they start
But they say the good things are what will remain
But I’m left feeling nothing but pain
And I hate to say goodbye
It’s just not for me
I hate to say goodbye
To someone that meant so much to me

But if you were to just
Tell me what it all meant, I'd get the jist
Here's to the kids who destroyed a darkness in it's darkest
It shouldn't be hard to revolt or, revolt or..
Grab my arm
And remind me of those times we were armed
To face way bigger than this
I just need you to revolt or, revolt or resist

When you walked away, you left these wounds open
And there’s an empty space in my heart where you used to be
All of my soul is telling me to carry on
But it feels like what we once had has now all but gone

Is this all there is?
Stuck waiting for you to hit the surface
I need for you to come to your senses
I need for you to revolt or, revolt or,
Look in my eyes
And tell me exactly why again
The empires we build can't always stand
I just need something, you need to revolt or, revolt or resist

It’s hard to walk away from someone
When you feel like there’s still something there
It’s hard to give up all you love
But you realize they just don’t seem to care
And they don’t talk to you any more
They don’t smile at you like they used to do
They don’t even remember your name
You only have yourself to blame

Is this all there is?
Is this all there is?
Is this all there is?
Revolt or, revolt or resist
Is this all there is?
Is this all there is?
Revolt or, revolt or resist
Is this all there is?
Is this all there is?
Revolt or, revolt or resist
Is this all there is?
Is this all there is?
Revolt or, revolt or resist”

---

SOUND ALIKE;

FALL OUT BOY – THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT (FEAT. AZEALIA BANKS)

---

PERSONNEL;

Amy Meyer – lead vocals, lyrics, piano, composition, production
Adam Benjamin – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, lyrics, composition, production
Jason Greenberg – bass guitar, lyrics, composition, production
Nina “Rum” Tarantino – vocals, lyrics, composition, production, mixing
Airemese “Coke” Smith – vocals, lyrics, composition, production, mixing