"All In Who You Know" by Smokey Brights – A Song Feature

 

     This is a story of initially overlooking a song’s appeal—though not one of missed opportunity, since we eventually recognized what we had missed.  Caroline at Clarion Call Media gave us an early heads-up that Smokey Brights would soon release “All In Who You Know,” the first single from their upcoming album, “Dashboard Heat.” The 11-track album is set to drop on September 26, 2025. We immediately enjoyed the song, but it took a second encounter to fully open our ears.
 

      The instrumental highlight of "All In Who You Know" is from the Yamaha “keytar” that is shown in the embedded picture. It’s likely that this Yamaha SHS-10 is set in its Rock guitar “voice,” based upon the wail heard at the 46-second mark.  The instrument is held by Kim West, who also provides the lead vocals. The other members of Seattle-based Smokey Brights are Ryan Devlin (vocals/guitars), Luke Ragnar (bass/vocals), and Nick Krivchenia (drums).
 
      The final 30 seconds of the song are also noteworthy. "All In Who You Know" sequentially moves from a “banger” to Neo-psychedelia and then a near-religious delivery, before a final moment of self-congratulation.

     The lyrics of the song are included at the bottom of this post. Cleverly, Smokey Brights refer to "All In Who You Know" as “The world’s first anthem for mutual aid via petty theft - this synth-laden banger punches up at celebrities and egg barons and reminds us that the power to push back lies in small acts of resistance that can happen anywhere, even the grocery store checkout line.”

     "All In Who You Know" by Smokey Brights

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Lyrics of "All In Who You Know" by Smokey Brights
Cereal for dinner, Thursday night
Grab some one percent from the Shop ‘n Rite
Thought about some cheap red wine
But my shift was slow, and tips were light
 
I picked up a magazine
Smokin' hot celebrities
They're just like us, but not like me
 
Guess it's all in who you know
 
Jo bagged the milk, and we caught up
Her kids, her folks, the rent, her boyfriend Doug
Talked about the rising price
Of stupid shit, of getting by
 
She ran my card, declined again
But she waived me through, cause she's a friend
 
Yeah, it's all in who you know
All in who you know
 
I said I'll buy you a beer, after your shift
You can't borrow the van, but I'll give you a lift
I mean, what's a job really worth to you?
If you see a friend, just wave ‘em through
 
It's all in who you know
It's all in who you know
All in who you know
 
So who do you know?
Who do you know?