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, Mom Jeans’ vocalist Eric Butler.
Avril Lavigne – My Happy Ending
We may be reaching a bit prior to teenage listening, but Avril Lavigne was the first real concert that I ever went to in the fourth grade. I was so obsessed with her music, and my family supported that because she’s Canadian, and my dad loves anything Canadian because we are. Her latest album at the time was ‘Under My Skin’, and it became the first or second CD that I ever had in my walkman that I would carry around and bring with me to school. Looking back, that concert experience was so formative, and I think the fact that the sound she became really popular for and kind of pioneered is coming back into style again right now. I still hear a lot of her influence in a lot of the more punk-inspired pop and Top 40 music that’s coming out, and I legit hope one day I get to meet her or see her live again. ‘My Happy Ending’ was my favourite song off the aforementioned album, and it’ll always stick with me because it’s the first song I can remember hearing that had a radio edit with the word “stuff” instead of “shit”, haha.
Fountains of Wayne – Stacy’s Mom
I could be wrong, but this is probably the first song that I can genuinely remember getting stuck in my head. This was before I had ever taken music lessons, picked up an instrument, or really shown an interest in being a musician. I was still pretty young, like 3rd or 4th grade, but the song ‘Stacy’s Mom’ was a huge radio hit, and everyone my age knew it and was singing it. It probably half got stuck in our heads because it’s somewhat of a rude song that didn’t age great and has cringy lyrics, but it’s also an amazing song off an even more amazing album. I wholeheartedly believe that my love for loud guitars and power pop as a genre started that early and with the release of this song and album. I still listen to ‘Welcome Interstate Managers’ on a pretty regular basis, and my love for Fountains of Wayne has kind of kickstarted my interest in looking deeper into the discographies of one-hit-wonder radio bands from the early 2000s. This song and record is kind of a testament to me of all the great work and songwriting that happens alongside the big radio hits that make their way onto the airwaves. So much music gets made, and so little of it actually gets listened to properly and earnestly, and this band taught me a lot about how to start doing that. Def check out their first album; it’s amazing.
Barenaked Ladies – What a Good Boy
I mentioned earlier how my parents loved to show me anything by Canadian artists to help make me proud of being Canadian, and besides being one of the biggest and best Canadian bands of all-time BNL is genuinely probably my family’s overall favourite band of all time. I’ve seen them countless times, heard every song off every album hundreds of times, and genuinely listening to BNL just feels like a normal and natural part of my childhood, like Christmas or family vacations. I picked What a Good Boy as my song example because I really believe it shows so many of their strengths as a band and as musicians as far as their range and dexterity as songwriters. Steven Page will probably always be one of my favourite vocalists, and the same is true for Ed Helms and songwriting. This song always makes me feel some type of way and is the first BNL song that I ever learned how to play on guitar. Obviously, they haven’t been the coolest band as of late, as most great bands either die cool or grow not cool as they get old and successful, but as far as their entire catalogue and the influence they’ve had on my life and journey as a player and lover of music, BNL will definitely remain my single favourite band of all time.
ABBA – Mamma Mia
I spent the first half of my childhood growing up in the midwest, where my family would drive ourselves 15-16 hours up and back across the Canadian border to visit my mom and dad’s respective relatives. When I was old enough to get super bored, my dad bought a portable DVD player that I could sit on my lap and watch movies for the car ride, and after watching every movie we had on these trips, I started watching music video compilation DVDs. One of the ones we had was ABBA:Gold, a collection of all their most popular videos and songs. I have really vivid memories of spending Christmastime driving through Northern Wisconsin/Michigan and Southern Canada, watching these ABBA music videos and spending time with my parents. I honestly miss those trips now, but all those hours spent in the car cooped up listening to ABBA definitely instilled in me a love for their music. I genuinely cannot hear this song without singing along and probably dancing, and I can’t hear anything by ABBA without thinking about my parents. Lots of fond and warm memories associated with this song and with this group; anytime I meet someone who also loves ABBA, I feel like I’m in a part of a secret club where we all have the same guilty pleasure band. In hindsight, my love for ABBA is probably a big reason why I like pop music so much and a big part of the reason why I always strive to incorporate the memorable, hooky, and accessible elements of pop music into my own songwriting.
Freddie Hubbard – Dear John
I (along with my bandmates) was lucky enough to be a part of a school district that had really fantastic music programs in all its schools, so I started taking band and learning the trombone playing classical and jazz music in grade 5. While I did still listen to plenty of pop/rock/punk music, jazz and classical music played and still does play a huge role in my own musical journey and education. I continued to be a part of jazz band, wind band, and marching band for the entirety of my time in school as well as the majority of my time in University and was the main relationship that I had with music prior to starting MJ. While everyone in my band will tell you we don’t use a whole lot of music theory in Mom Jeans, the lessons that we learned in regards to work ethic, rehearsal, communication, responsibility, and personal accountability when playing in a musical group together still serve us to this very day. Today, listening to some of my favourite tunes that we used to play or listen to in jazz band or jazz combo reminds me of how different my experience and relationship with music might have been if I hadn’t been lucky enough to receive that educational foundation. Obviously, you don’t need to take lessons or be in band class to become a great musician to start a band, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have guidance and support in the form of music education programs. For that reason, listening to artists like Freddie Hubbard and this awesome tune ‘Dear John’ will always make me feel connected to that time of my life and my/our roots in jazz and classical music.
Hairspray The Musical – Without Love
As everyone has likely noticed by now, I have a big place in my heart for the super corny shit. I was a HUGE musical theatre fan in middle school and high school, doing musicals and drama class in both and eventually spending a lot of time in high school and college playing trombone in the pit orchestra. I’ve always been drawn to the storytelling aspect of musicals, every song is so thick with plot, yet there are plenty of tracks from numerous musicals that could stand alone as just a song released by an artist. I was lucky enough to be a part of a lot of musical productions during my time in school like Grease, Spelling Bee, Avenue Q, and a handful of student-written musicals, but of them all my favourite one to play in the orchestra for and just generally my favourite musical is Hairspray. I won’t lie when I say that John Travolta and Zac Efron did it justice, but in general, the story, the music, and the characters are just some of my favourites of all time. This song is kind of the pre-climax of the story, and I think it manages to be really joyful and hopeful in the context of the big shock that’s happening in the story. Definitely can listen to the soundtrack from this musical over and over without getting tired of it, and definitely am inspired to write when I watch great musicals such as this one
Reel Big Fish – Don’t Start A Band
By the time I reached high school, with the exception of the jazz and classical I was listening to for band class, I would say that probably 95% of the music I listened to was ska music. There was a local band at my high school that played ska music, and that band ended up being my first DIY show experience, so once I realised that you could play wind instruments and also be in a punk band, I was sold. Less Than Jake, Streetlight, Op Ivy, Mustard PLug, and Aquabats were some of my favourites, but Reel Big Fish was definitely the biggest and most inspirational ska band for me. I LOVED literally anything they did, and I owned every album, watched every live video, and owned the You’re All In This Together live show movie that they made, and I watched it probably at least once a day for three years straight. My own ska band in high school was definitely a lil RBF worship band, and I love this song because the message and lyrics are still pretty funny and still ring true. One of the things I always respected about RBF was that they weren’t afraid to put out songs like this one or like Sell Out that did the opposite of glorifying being in a band and being “famous”. While I definitely didn’t and don’t agree with all the messages and points they’ve tried to make or enjoy watching them poke fun at super-sensitive topics, the way they tried to “keep it real” while still being mad goofy and entertaining is still something I carry with me to this day. Ska music will always represent the first kind of “chosen family” that I really found in my life; it was my gateway to DIY music, the way I met half of my friends and current bandmates, and what ultimately laid the foundation for my love for the music community and having a team of people that you can really be yourself around and have a safe place to let loose and be goofy. If you’re ever at a MJ gig, know that you have the same permission to do that too. We all deserve a place to get goofy and be happy. Respectful, but goofy and happy
Tenacious D – Tribute
I don’t think I’m super unique in that Jack Black in School Of Rock is a huge reason why I wanted to play music and be in a band, but the fact is I really loved that movie as a kid and have genuinely been a fan of his ever since. After that movie, I felt like JB was like my long lost mentor who had never met me but had shown me the way to the rock, so when I eventually saw Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny, I really didn’t know what to think, haha. I mean, 13-year-old me obviously thought it was awesome, but seeing Jack Black in a different light made me like him even more, and I actually became pretty obsessed with the movie for a while. As I mentioned earlier, with the musicals and stuff like I LOVE great songwriting that also manages to tell a story or like be funny, so the entire Pick of Destiny thing, as well as Tenacious D and their whole shtick, just honestly felt tailor-made for me. I’m sure it did for a lot of other people too, and that’s why they’re so successful, and that ability to really be yourself at the risk of seeming funny or goofy has always stuck with me. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that music or live performances are a space that needs to be taken super seriously all the time. People should be allowed to like the things they like, whether it’s because it makes them laugh, cry, puke, or whatever. Tenacious D was never the most serious band in the world, obviously, but I know for a fact that there are SO many people around the world who have either started playing music or continued to play music because of them and their influence. ‘Tribute’ is my fave song of theirs; I think it’s musically insane, has some of the funniest bits and lyrics, and just shows the range and ability that two dudes dicking around with guitars but having a ton of fun can do.
The Kooks – Naive
Aside from ska music, The Kooks were probably the only band besides like Passion Pit or Fleet Foxes (lol) that I would listen to on a regular basis. I really liked their albums ‘Inside In/Inside Out’ (which this song is on) and ‘Konk’, which were out at the tie and they had previously just done a bunch of big ass touring and festivals, so there was a lot of online material for me to watch and listen to and devour. I feel like The Kooks are really the band that transitioned me into the more indie/rock/even somewhat emo direction. They wouldn’t call themselves an emo or pop-punk band, but they definitely have elements of nostalgia and bittersweet melodies/chords that draw us towards the things we still like to do in our own music today. ‘Naive’ is the first song I ever heard by The Kooks, and I didn’t even know it was them at the time because the song was just super popular and on the radio and playing everywhere. Not until someone I had a crush on showed me The Kooks and was like, “this is my favourite band”, did I actually sit down and listen to The Kooks, and I ended up liking the music and caring about that more than them, haha. I still think their set from Glastonbury was so legendary and epic, and they’re definitely my favourite band to come out of the UK in the last 20 years.
Modern Baseball – Tears Over Beers
This is the song that changed my life. After high school, before college and before meeting and starting MJ, our bassist Sam was recommending music to me because I liked his band and wanted to know their influences. He started me off with Say Anything, Joyce Manor, and Tigers Jaw, and from there, I stumbled upon Mobo and their album ‘Sports’. I really liked the first song, but when this second track came in, I remember sobbing on the plane, just feeling like a ton of bricks fell on top of my head. Mobo’s music and this song in general just felt so personal and vulnerable, like I was being allowed to read someone else’s diary. But at the same time, it felt like they were talking about me and my experiences, so it was almost like reading your OWN diary, which was even crazier. I got the sense from listening to them that music was clearly a genuine space for them to put a lot of their feelings and a lot of themselves into, and I wanted that for myself. I learned how to write songs by copying chord progressions and song structures and melodies from Mobo and trying to insert my own ideas and own lyrics to help me better understand what really makes up a great song. I’m super grateful for Mobo, and that they existed for as long as they did, they gave us three amazing LPs, countless other records, incredible tour memories, and a collection of live sets and experiences that we can cherish forever. Whenever I’m feeling down or unsure about my place in music, I definitely go back to this band and to this song and album to remind myself why it all means as much to me as it does.
Taken from the March issue of Upset. Mom Jeans’ album ‘Sweet Tooth’ is out 25th February.
