Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls isn’t playing around, and he certainly isn’t playing with dolls, on his first new release in five years, “Must Crush Barbie”. The standalone single delivers a tinnitus-inducing takedown of the Mattel toy and subsequent Hollywood blockbuster currently sweeping the nation.
An unsettling music box introduction opens up into screeching electric guitar to announce the arrival of Smalls’ first new release since his star-studded 2018 LP Smalls Change (Meditations Upon Ageing). Evidently, the bassist is having none of the cultural moment surrounding Barbie, periodically interrupting pulsating drums to scoff, “Big new stink / Too much pink.” Brevity is the soul of wit on Derek’s single, repeatedly yelling the command “Must Crush Barbie” on behalf of the boys. Overall, Derek Smalls dutifully plays the part of a Boomer threatened by the blockbuster’s feminist ideals that have made it a sensation with the younger generations.
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While Derek derides the corporate shilling that comes with the product tie-in for a movie starring A-list celebrities, Smalls’ return to recording comes after an unfortunate product partnership of his own went south. Back in 2019, Smalls became a spokesperson for the Dutch cryptocurrency BruegelCoin, however in 2022 the company collapsed under a wave of lawsuits, and Smalls—who was paid in BruegelCoin—was left with nothing after it became worthless.
“Been spending the last year or so as Brand Ambassador for BruegelCoin, the Dutch cryptocurrency,” Smalls said in a press release. “Since it was cratering this past spring, I was following the news more than usual, which is where I got bombarded by all the Barbie BS. I don’t know which angered me more, but it’s really hard to write a song about crypto. But the overwhelming shroud of pinkness definitely deserved a major pricking. And that’s where I came in.”
The press materials did not indicate whether the single is part of any larger release. Smalls is likely biding his time as he awaits the release of Marty DiBergi‘s new Spinal Tap documentary which will hopefully redeem the group following his original 1984 film, which Derek has called “a hatchet job,” adding, “There were plenty of nights when we found our way to the stage, but of course, they didn’t show you that.”
Listen to Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls’ new single “Must Crush Barbie” below or on your preferred platform.
Derek Smalls – “Must Crush Barbie”
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