I’ve always thought about hierarchy when it comes to my taste in bands, artists, and music. I like listing out in my head who are my favorites and what order they’re in. When a new band comes along it’s always fun to see where they rank with old favorites and where they are years later. Before starting this I thought about listing my top favorite records or bands but that seemed like a really long prospect. Instead, since I promised myself I’d have something out sooner, I borrowed a concept of weaving my thoughts to static. So many bands and musicians have impacted me but without hesitation four individuals were above the rest. One moment in time, a seminal record, influenced me forever. They may change someday but these have stood for years, some for decades.
Still young in time, I cannot deny the impact Roomrunner had on me when I got their first tape. It changed how I wanted to write and play music. It changed how I dressed in a small way. I had to go see them some years ago the only time they came out to the west coast. RMRNNR bled with noise and turned up the sonic dial whenever they damn well pleased. The beautiful thing about them was their simplicity. Under all their effects the music was simple yet elegant. They understood how to exploit the desired sound from their instruments with what I call easy playing. Usually critics call this functional playing. They weren’t functional however. Simpler chords were used to accomplish what their style asked for. They were all proficient players but much like Tool it was about sculpting the piece.
While I know they hate the comparisons to Nirvana its undeniable they sound like what made Seattle’s best unique. RMRNNR evolved that sound to the level I had always wanted to hear next. I like In Utero as much as most but it was a response to the fame and expectations acquired from Nevermnind. I always wondered what they would have sounded like if Teen Spirit never made them famous or if they stayed at the same level from Bleach. I think they would have sounded like RMRNNR or gone towards that path. That’s a high complement I couldn’t pay to anyone else. They were what everyone was waiting for.
My personal evolution in indie rock started with Radiohead. They’re kinda like the gateway into the genre like pot is to recreational drugs. In high school I found Mew on those random music channels you get with your cable provider. My uncle who introduced me to RH was also a fan. The Danish band came along at a perfect time. They had progressive elements that my metal tastes like but at the same time I felt a connection with Denmark again. Their lyrics had an element of mystery but they were obviously emotional in nature. My adolescent self sucked that up like crack. I still do when it feels right.
Frengers will always be their best work. “Am I Wry? No” leads off with a memorable melody into a captivating riff. It sets the air for the album that’s present through out. “Comforting Sounds” builds up for four minutes, keeps your attention, and breaks out into bombastic and enchanting sections. I listened to that record through and through for years. Finally seeing them last year was rewarding. My ex asked if I wanted to go closer to the stage at The Observatory but I only wanted to see them from afar. I love participating in shows but this time it was prudent to just behold them.
There are bands that change the way you cut your hair, influence the cloths your wear, tattoo their art on your body. Thursday are my favorite band and that will never change. They broke at a time when the internet ingrain itself into our everyday lives. Full Collapse spread by word of mouth like many great underground albums do. The internet pushed it through a warp gate. They went from indie band to crashing the party on the pop charts with “Understanding in a Car Crash” playing three times a day on MTV. Their music sounded how I felt during those times. It still resonates now.
Geoff Rickly became like Jesus to me, and many others. He had all the questions I had and sometimes their answers. His honest liberated me. It spoke about grieving friends and family, love lost, or even dark specters in suicide or rape. If Kurt Cobain made it ok to have feelings, Geoff freed them. There wasn’t anything that couldn’t be discussed. I only got to see them once but it was a religious experience. My close friend Greg still gives me crap about the funny photo I took with Geoff or how primordial I got during the show. I still have no tattoos and probably won’t get many. When I decide to have one it will be their dove.
Remembering my earliest memory of music I go back to my biological father in Denmark. I recall Bob Marley, Tupac, and Nirvana but none of them as early or significant as Metallica. “Enter Sandman” is not only my first recollection of music but it’s also the best song I’ve ever heard. That’s my opinion. I’ve wanted to write it down as a statement for years. That song and The Black Album are what The Beatles represent to most. It’s a musical starting point. There’s a reason why I gravitate to heavier sounding music, judge songs by riffs, and seek certain structures in music. Metallica is the reason.
Before 1991, they had just come off touring …And Justice for All around the world. This concert from Seattle encapsulates the band at their peak of writing ridiculously fast and chaotic metal. There was nothing like them. Just look at the fracasing crowd. Metallica took their style at the time to highest level of success possible. What they did with The Black Album however drew all the metalheads and everyone else in world. People who were completely clueless about metal praised this record. The most common criticism here lies in the pace of its songs. No longer were they speed and sweeps. Lar Ulrich when asked about if they sold out as band (Metal Evolution Thrash Episode) replied making another fast album would have been selling out. They went in another direction rather than just doing what Slayer does. I have no complaints about doing the same kind of record over and over again. It’s worked out well for them but there’s a reason one band is far more regarded and popular than the other. Without this change I may have never gone the metal direction. I’m sure so many others could say the same.
Just imagine what you would be like if heard something different during impressionable times. If Garth Brooks had influenced me early on I clearly would be different. Think how disparate everything about me would be. Music influences how we think which effects our behavior. It changes how we look, feel, express our lives. Looking at what shaped us explains not only the past but the present and future too.
Disaesthetic 
