Brisbane-based 90s indie-rock legends Screamfeeder will be hitting the road in Australia on a national tour playing hits from their 1996 classic album, Kitten Licks. To celebrate, they’re re-releasing their breakthrough album with a bonus disc of 6 rare B-Sides.
Thin Lizzy / Running Back The secret pop hit hidden on the band’s late 70s opus Jailbreak. This song cannot be played once, it must be on repeat for at least a few hours. Phil’s vocals are gorgeous, and touching, and sweet. The last verse is all nah nah nah nah nah’s and by then no more words are needed, pure gold.
Lexington, Kentucky’s pop superheroes Big Fresh have been hard at work in the laboratory since Yes, Nice, Please, Thanks (2001, Aquapop Records) electrified the regional college radio airwaves. Their U.S. tour last year opening for The Apples in stereo broadcast their pop manifesto to head-bopping masses, disseminating a 150-copy limited pressing of their newly completed album.
The Apples In Stereo / The Golden Flower I know you shouldn’t talk about songs by a band you’re in, but this song was recorded way before I joined up. It perfectly captures the feeling of melancholy that comes with a bittersweet teenage romance. The chords and melody haunt me in a good way.
Liverpool band The Hot Melts play loud raucous rock and roll. Their next single, Red Lips, will be out soon.
Eagles Of Death Metal / Wannabe In L.A Since we went on tour with these guys, I’ve been cranking their new album Heart On on my iPod and this has to be the grooviest track they’ve done so far. It oozes rock and roll like only Josh Homme and Jesse Hughes can.
Having received bouquets for their earlier low-fi recordings, with their new aptly named album, Missiles, The Dears’ are now positioned as bonafide leaders of the Canadian indie rock renaissance.
Air / Mike Mills I’ve been working from my home ’studio’ and have a few tracks that I play in it because I am very familiar with how they sound. Mike Mills, aside from being a well-composed track, sounds really good. When the strings come in towards the end, I am wishing that I had written it.
Royal Treatment Plant have been attracting a lot of attention in the UK and Europe. Their album was recorded with Ted Miller (Placebo, Blur), and Mike Chapman (Blondie) mixed a few tracks. Hope Is Not Enough was the feature album of Steve Lamacq show on BBC 6 Music’s program. Hope Is Not Enough was also nominated for Debut Album of the Year by influential UK indie station XFM, alongside Lightspeed Champion and The Ting Tings.
Little Death / Baby Can You Dig Your Man Another of my favorite London bands at the moment, made up mostly of Americanadians with what seems to be an ever-changing drummer and a sexist job description for bass player: must be pretty faced gal or you don’t get the job. I love this band; I love their name; I love their latest self-released EP and I love this song. It’s raw, it’s shouty and LOUD.
Folk-pop outfit Joker’s Daughter features the talents of singer-songwriter Helena Costas and genre-hopping producer, Danger Mouse. Their debut album, Last Laugh, was released earlier this year.
High Llamas / The Old Spring Town Because it’s so pretty! It’s what a cocktail in the sun would sound like: chilled and cool.
Terra Naomi is a singer-songwriter from upstate New York who gained international recognition through YouTube. She was the first artist to do a music video comprised of fan-generated video clips (it won a YouTube award in 2006) and was invited by Al Gore to play Live Earth in London after he heard her song, Say It’s Possible. She signed a deal with Island UK, released a record, and toured the UK and Europe extensively. After leaving Island and coming back to the States, she is getting ready to release a new studio album that was funded by fan contributions and the sales of an old 2002 record re-release.
Why / Gemini (The Birthday Song) This song is like its own complex little universe. It starts somewhere and then goes somewhere else and then ends somewhere totally different. Listening to this song while driving has been shown to cause intense euphoria.
Post Honeymoon strips bare and slows down the pop songs Nick and Rachel perfected while playing in other outfits. Think Siouxsie Sioux meets The Motels, meets Love & Rockets (without the guitars). The duo’s new album self-titled album was engineered and produced by Greg Norman who has previously worked with Pelican, Russian Circles, Mclusky, The Atari Star, Pinebender, Milemarker, Andrew Bird, and 90 Day Men.
Future of the Left / Manchasm Colin is a pussy, a very pretty pussy. Colin is a pussy, a very pretty pussycat. Schoolyard chants meet synths and asskicking with tongue firmly planted in cheek. We love this band.
Formed in 2000, Northern Ireland band The Answer play old-school blues-rock, influenced heavily by 70s stalwarts AC/DC and Led Zeppelin.
AC/DC / Whole Lotta Rosie When I was eight years old, my brother played me this track in the car and I was blown away. I’d never heard guitars this loud and aggressive. Before this I was mostly listening to Dire Straits and Queen. At that age I didn’t know what Bon Scott was singing about, but I knew it was something dirty. After hearing this, I went out and got every AC/DC album I could find and I was headed down a path from which I have yet to return!
Better Than Ezra are the million-selling band with hits like Good and A Lifetime and has a fan base so faithful they’ve dubbed themselves the Ezralites. So what’s the story behind that name? ‘We have never revealed it, even under duress,’ says frontman, Kevin Griffin. While the band name remains a well-kept secret, the seemingly mysterious title of Better Than Ezra’s latest project, Paper Empire, speaks right to the heart of a world asking a lot of questions and ultimately discovering the things worth holding onto.
Friendly Fires / Paris (Aeroplane Remix) I love this band’s album and this remix makes me feel like going out on the town.
My Secret Playlist is a music discovery website and weekly email publication. We invite our favourite bands and musicians to give us the rundown on their eight favourite songs right now. These are their words on the music that inspires them.
