“The Underdog” by North Carolina’s Different Moon

“The Underdog” is the latest single from North Carolina’s Different Moon, the banner adopted over the last nine years for Jim Piper’s songwriting. Nearly twenty singles, multiple EP releases, and a host of award nominations later, Different Moon continues to produce new and important songwriting that doesn’t reinvent the songwriting wheel, but nonetheless recasts the familiar in fresh and invigorating ways. Piper’s passion for writing new songs keeps driving him on; he’s what you can call a “lifer”. Fate could prohibit him from releasing any further music tomorrow. However, Piper would keep going, creating, playing, and finding himself through music. It’s likely as intrinsic as breathing for him.

The synthesis of music, vocals, and lyrics definitely unfolds that way. Some songs emerge from their creators like they are floating around in the breeze already written and awaiting the right artist to give it a voice. “The Underdog” comes off that way. It’s a perfect illustration of how you can have a rousing song without ever descending into cookie-cutter predictability. The staggered tempo of the opening isn’t typical of this “type” of song. Listeners will feel at home with it after a few seconds and it acts as a hook into the rest of the song.

Lyrical hooks matter a lot for this track as well. The “hey you” lines in the opening verse have the intended effect. It grabs a listener’s attention, never in a cheap fashion, and there’s something quite urgent about Piper’s vocal delivery that makes it imperative that we continue listening. We feel on familiar ground language-wise. This songwriting approaches the listener on their level and with immense intelligence.

You can tell that he’s thoroughly invested in the song. He bears down vocally on several key lines throughout the song, particularly during the pre-chorus and chorus, but knows when to take a gentler approach as he does during the song’s bridge. The construction of this track is immaculate. Piper’s production skills are exemplary. He delineates each instrument, including his voice, with a keen ear, and there’s never any sense of clutter weighing down the song.

The guitar definitely gives it plenty of rock bite. His use of piano and keyboards complements the guitar playing quite nicely, and the brief instrumental breaks allow him a chance to showcase arranging depth. He’s written a song that isn’t difficult to root for, and the song’s subject has a general rather than specific frame of reference that allows listeners to more readily identify with the track. This is one of the keystones of any great song.

It’s the latest triumph for one of the indie scene’s best-kept open secrets. Different Moon has come a long way since Piper and his now-deceased high school pal Mike Smith first conceived the project almost ten years ago. It still has the same vibrant sense of purpose, however, and “The Underdog” illustrates there’s ample gas left in the creative tank for another ten years. It’s a winning performance from the first note to the last.

Mindy McCall