When you load up Spotify, a great big chunk of the time you can’t think what to play, right? You default back to your old favourites, those albums and songs you played on repeat when you first discovered you could make them yours.
This isn’t about guilty pleasures; it’s about those songs you’ll still be listening to when you’re old and in your rocking chair. So, enter Teenage Kicks – a playlist series that sees bands running through the music they listened to in their formative years.
Next up, Deaf Havana.
Tom: When I first heard this I was mesmerised by the way Travis played the drums. It ended up being my favourite album through high school. Just a really nostalgic, feel good, summer song.
Tom: Everyone in the world probably picks this as one of their favourite tracks. My dad bought me this for Christmas one year, and it was the first album I owned. Again, I was mesmerised by the drums, and the way the whole band sounded when they play together. In my opinion, Nirvana were the best rock band around. It’s never got any better than that.
Lee: I must’ve been 14 when I first started going to gigs in my local area. I remember buying their album ‘Surrounded By Idiots’ at the Blue & Gold in Kings Lynn! This song reminds me of all the good times my friends and I had going to shows and dancing in the pit. Vanilla Pod were one of the bands that introduced me to live music and made me want to play hot and sweaty shows!
Lee: One of my school friends showed me this song and all I can remember was thinking I need to learn how to play this song on bass! This song made me want to start a band, just so I could play that bass line.
Matthew: This song changed my life in that it opened my eyes to my favourite band and made me excited to hear heavy music over dance beats and from then on Nine Inch Nails were the band that soundtracked me throughout my late teens.
Matthew: Jeff Buckley was the first artist that made me cry just from the sound of their voice, but the chord progressions in this song, in particular, are gorgeous and changed the way I thought about writing guitar parts. It’s a beautiful song that has meant a lot to me since I first heard it aged 14.
James: I bought this record when I was on holiday in America! I remember putting it in the CD player for the first time and falling in love! I think I listened to it solidly for a good year. It just reminds me of being on Tampa beach in Florida!
James: This was the first album I actually bought myself! My parents weren’t too happy about it because there is a decent amount of bad language on it. I just love how this sounds. Probably the first time I found myself listening to heavy music.
Taken from the May issue of Upset. Deaf Havana headline 2000trees on 13th July.
