1. Since forming Louisville rock band The Muckrakers in 1997, Rob Carpenter… Read Full Bio ↴1. Since forming Louisville rock band The Muckrakers in 1997, Rob Carpenter and his four bandmates have been drawing mobs of sweating, dancing, request-shouting fans from Kentucky to Colorado. Their new album, Front of the Parade, offers a collection of immediately memorable songs whose propulsive drive reflects the energy of the band's live shows. On first listen, you'll notice their unabashedly melodic vocals, tight, soulful harmonies and clean ensemble playing - their general sound seems to fit somewhere on an iPod mix between, say, Crowded House and Matchbox 20. On a second listen, the play of oblique biographical detail and savvy literary reference reveal themselves in haunting images and subversive wordplay. "Saw the ghost of Barrymore drinking H2SO4," begins one line in Hold On, unlocking itself next with "Baby don't you know I hate Hamlet." Cigarettes and Magazines wraps a critique of superficial, Bible-brandishing hypocrites in a sweet, swaying lilt. And the giddily euphoric Through My Door (also the first video) celebrates the pleasures of crushes for crush's sake - toasting the self-justifying thrill of infatuation itself. Plus, these are songs you can dance to!

Rob Carpenter met singer/guitarist John Ruby at Western Kentucky University where they were both history majors. They began their rock 'n' roll career as a college coffeehouse duo, but enlisted bassist Brian Meurer in time to record their first independent album, Forgot to Breathe, in 1998. Drummer Dave Sparks came on board the following year and had the brainstorm to put their already popular music on MP3.com. Within weeks The Muckrakers became one of the most popular bands on the site, averaging thousands of downloads a day and selling CDs all over the world. Thanks to sales, the band financed their second release, 2001's Losing Sleep. In their two years on MP3.com, they had more than 500,000 downloads and two of their songs landed in the site's top 40.

In 2004,The Muckrakers began recording with venerable producer Todd Smith (Days of the New, Smash Mouth) on Front of the Parade and were signed to Toucan Cove Entertainment/Label X. They added electric guitarist Micah Gerdis and recorded in Louisville and Nashville, bringing in members of the Louisville Symphony Orchestra as well as hip-hop group Code Red. All the while, they were playing to sold-out crowds throughout the Louisville area (being named "Band You'd Most Want to Hook Up With" by Louisville's weekly paper didn't hurt) and building a reputation as one of the city's best live acts. They also had the pleasure of opening for Vertical Horizon, the Violent Femmes and even Jessica Simpson. Though they enjoyed their time in the studio recording Front of the Parade, The Muckrakers' favorite place to be is on stage. And now, new album in hand, they're poised to Muckrake across the country.

2. Hailing from Long Island, The Muckrakers [Kyler Sane: Guitar / Vocals, Shanon Munoz: Bass / Vocals, Jonathan Hoffman: Drums] are a punk band that formed an experimental and melodic sound that didn't tie itself down to any particular genre. They took punk and did what the whole point of it was: To be yourself.

Slip Away
The Muckrakers Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Throw caution to the wind, baby
Put your best foot forward
Because I've got no place else I'd rather be
Don't make any plans
Don't make any decisions now, baby
Because we're just out to see what we can see
Everything fades from my vision
Everything fades from my view

Everything I've ever known it now leads me here
Where all I need is you my love
Would you slip away with me my love
Would you slip away
I've been driving all night
Just to hold you in my arms again
Bathing in the car lights
Until I can feel you safe and warm
Let Saturday bleed into Sunday
And wipe that smile from your eyes

When everybody's busy being everybody else
You know we can just lie here for awhile

Overall Meaning

The Muckrakers's song Slip Away is about living in the moment and seizing the day, particularly when it comes to love. The song urges the listener to take risks and be spontaneous, and to put aside any plans or decisions for the sake of experiencing life as it comes. The lyrics suggest that everything else in life fades away in comparison to the love shared between two people, representing a perspective that prioritizes love and intimacy above all else.

The first verse establishes the idea that the singer has no other priority than being with their partner, saying "throw caution to the wind, baby" and urging them to "put your best foot forward." The second verse emphasizes the fleeting nature of life and how easily things can fade from view, suggesting that in the end, all that matters is the love shared between two people. The chorus asks the question of whether the partner would "slip away" with the singer, implying that they are willing to ditch everything else for a chance at love.

Ultimately, Slip Away emphasizes the importance of living in the moment and prioritizing love as the most important aspect of life.

Line by Line Meaning

Throw caution to the wind, baby
Don't worry about consequences, take risks

Put your best foot forward
Give it your all, show your truest self

Because I've got no place else I'd rather be
Being with the person is the most important

Don't make any plans
Live in the moment without expectations

Don't make any decisions now, baby
Don't stress over choices, follow intuition

Because we're just out to see what we can see
Experience anything and everything together

Everything fades from my vision
Nothing else matters but the moment and the person

Everything fades from my view
The world around is insignificant without the person

Everything I've ever known it now leads me here
Past experiences have led to this moment

Where all I need is you my love
The person is the only thing necessary for happiness