Mid-term elections are coming up quick, and that means it’s just about time for the October surprise, in which one candidate puts out some piece of information (real or not) that they think will tank their opponent. We’ve seen it time and again, with varying results. Maybe JB Pritzker has a photo of Darren Bailey rolling around naked in a puddle of slop with his pigs, maybe Bailey has documents showing Pritzker never paid for those golden toilets he had installed. Regardless, it’s usually something ridiculous, and people are all too willing to take the candidates at their word.

Push Puppets, the pop prophets of Palatine, deal with this phenomenon in a fairly direct way on their song “October Surprise.” Written from the perspective of the monsters that are pulling the strings behind the politicians, Erich Specht sings “own it or not, you’re going to face facts sooner or later/you’ll learn enough to get your minds blown/fillng the page, enough rage to generate the power to explode…” These are the people running newspapers, cable news, and online media outlets pushing their agenda by any means necessary and wreaking havoc on democracy.

It’s rare to find bands that can marry a political message with a good melody, so bravo to Push Puppets for accomplishing just that. “October Surprise” comes from their new album Allegory Grey, available now on Bandcamp. It’s a good power-pop record similar to Fountains of Wayne or Matthew Sweet.

The band will be playing a release show at Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights on October 14th. Tickets available here.