God is proud of his New Music minions.
First we served a slab of psych, prog and 60s pop via Mary Epworth; and now we’re handing over An Axe‘s comprehensive look at twisted pop and punk throughout the ages. From Cave to Bowie to Orbison, it’s not hard to see how these artists have influenced the Bristol band, though it’s near impossible to match their sound.
Credit in no small part to the musicians in question, this is a decent and fitting bow out for trio. Don’t forget you can see them play live at Buffalo Bar on November 19th!
David Bowie – Queen Bitch
Sam: I stole my older sister’s copy of Hunky Dory when I was about 14. This song more than any other blew my mind. It made me want to make music.
Ennio Morricone – Final Duel from Once Upon a Time in the West
A masterclass is building tension and delivering crescendo. Film has always been a massive influence on what we do.
Nirvana – Milk It
Probably the rawest, most brutal song from a band who were a very early influence for all of us.
David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti – The Pink Room
Justin: The sleaziest rock’n’roll instrumental ever committed to tape.
Jack Jones – Wives and Lovers
This creepy lounge number is hilariously chauvinistic, outdated and kinda dark, in a repressed surburban way. An unknown gem (or should that be ‘fossil’?) from a time long gone. It’s damn smooth though.
Miki and Griff – I Want to Stay Here
We love this song. Naive pop par excellence. We picked up the record randomly at a car boot sale a couple of years ago and listened to it on repeat for weeks afterwards.
Tom Waits – Dead And Lovely
Chris: Marc Ribot’s guitar tone and expressive phrasing. Waits’ imagery and lyricism. All tied up in a musical film noir. Ribot and Rowland S Howard changed the way I think about the guitar and the part it can play in a song.
Roy Orbison – Crying
Beautifully sad and unsettling. A huge vocal influence on An Axe. A figure lodged in our collective psyches from childhood.
Queens Of The Stone Age – Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret
The ginger Elvis. Also a huge vocal influence. Real men use falsetto. See also: Orbison.
Lou Reed – Make Up
The lyrics are catty and cutting, but then you have this immense walking tuba line. It’s something that shouldn’t work at all but Reed pulls it off effortlessly.
Nation of Ulysses – Today I Met the Girl I’m Going to Marry
Sam: I have a real soft spot for short, frantic love songs. I love how it sounds like it could fall apart at any moment.
Prince – Dirty Mind
Early Prince is stark and relentless. He makes the sinister seem so appealing.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand Chris: The groove, the strong imagery and storytelling, the organ stabs, the bell. Its just badass.
Julee Cruise – Mysteries of Love
Sam: A girl once gave me a cassette tape with just this song recorded on it over and over again. It’s so hypnotic and deceptively simple.
Echo & The Bunnymen – Killing Moon
Big, dark, epic pop.
Slint – Good Morning, Captain
Dark, creepy and intense – but still with a cheeky sense of humour. This song even manages to sound laid back, thanks to what is probably the best bass groove in the history of rock music.
