Seventh Heaven: Taylor Johnson
Seventh Heaven: Taylor Johnson
Back in 1977, NASA sent a probe into deep space laden with earthly goods. One such object was a golden record, containing some of the best music created by human beings: J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chuck Berry. All in the hope that, should life exist beyond our spacial borders, anyone that came into contact with the probe would be prepared for homo-sapien culture.
But what if we got to choose which albums went into space?
#1. The Smiths – ‘Rank’
The Smiths fell into my life just when I needed them most. From the first time I heard this band, it felt like they were talking directly to me. As if they existed only to soundtrack my life. Morrissey sang of unrequited love and the cruelness of the world with such honesty. For a young lad devastated about losing his Grandad, while falling in love with every girl who smiled at him at the same time, The Smiths quickly became MY band. ‘Rank’ includes my favourite cover ever, Elvis’s ‘His Latest Flame’, merging seamlessly with the pulsating ‘Rusholme Ruffians’ as well as one of my favourite songs of all time ‘Still Ill’. Not even the exclusion of the greatest love song ever written, ‘There Is A Light and It Never Goes Out’ could distil the beauty of ‘Rank’. For a band synonymous with morbidity, The Smiths sound like four friends having the best time in the world on this record. Just listen to how Morrissey introduces ‘Ask’…
Favourite tracks: Ask / Still Ill
#2. Sad Tomorrow – ‘Happy Birthday’
Sad Tomorrow are now a fully fledged four-piece. When they released ‘Happy Birthday’, their debut DIY album recorded on a budget of £0 and a shitty laptop, they were just two fifteen-year-olds procrastinating from revising. Thank god they did, because last year they created a record that perfectly captures what it’s like to be on the cusp of your whole entire life in the 21st Century. ‘Good Luck’ is pop gold, catchy verses leading to a dynamite chorus that not even the lack of a drumkit can hinder. It’s a heart-breaking record too. ‘Downhill’ is an ode to loneliness, but it all gets brought back home with bassist Matthew Duguid’s chants “let’s get drunk and fucked up!!”. The real clincher though is the title track. An absolute epic, complete with the most delicate bass/synth line provided by Duguid. I listen to this album when I’m sad and I feel like it gets me. I listen to this album when I’m on top of the world. I’m glad they didn’t do it in a studio, there’s magic here.
Favourite tracks: Happy Birthday / Insert Girls Name Here
#3. A Plastic Rose – ‘Camera, Shutter. Life’
The band that made me fall in love with Northern Irish music. A Plastic Rose lived the dream and encouraged everyone who listened to them to do the same. Around the time of their second album (the mammoth ‘Flickering Light of an Inner War’), I went over to Nottingham on a family holiday and bombarded their singer Gerry Norman to let me interview him. He then showed up at our hotel in the APR tour van and essentially kidnapped me, driving me around the Midlands and letting me ask him annoying questions for over an hour. We had a penalty shoot-out under one of the stands at Macclesfield’s stadium (which he let me win) and told me to never give up on whatever dreams I might have as I go through life. Apart from being some of the loveliest people I’ve ever met, they are also one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen. ‘Camera.Shutter.Life’ was like the greatest hits from the first half of their band’s life, so most of my memories come from songs from this era, just edging its successor for me.
Favourite tracks: Build From the Ground Up / Skin / Sun’s A Shadow
#4. General Fiasco – ‘Unfaithfully Yours’
I remember going to buy this record from HMV so clearly. By that time General Fiasco were long gone and I was always too young to see them play live, so there was an air of mystery surrounding the Bellaghy lads. I just couldn’t believe they were from here, I found it crazy that a band so good could have started off playing Stiff Kitten, Limelight and all the same venues I was by now playing in my own band. They were just a different level. They were the band we played at house parties, whose lyrics we’d sing on night’s out and who we’d pretend to be when we were rehearsing in my Granda’s house. Their debut album is incredible, but ‘Unfaithfully Yours’ never seemed to get the praise it deserved. ‘Waves’ is one of the best songs to ever come out of this country, ‘Age You Start Losing Friends’ was literally voted the best (in some sort of poll or other). This album had tune after tune, but the closer ‘The Bottom’ is maybe their best.
Favourite tracks: The Bottom / Waves / Temper Temper
#5. Hot Cops – ‘Another Teen Age’
Okay, so this is a bit of a weird one. I first saw Hot Cops back in 2015, supporting The Wonder Villains and Be Like Pablo in the old Queens SU. They were raw, young and hadn’t been gigging all that long. I wrote a review of that show and called them ‘the future of music’, a ridiculous thing to say about a band with one EP out and a handful of live shows under their belt; but I meant it then and I still mean it now. With Hot Cops it was immediate. The voice coming out of Carl Eccles was mesmerising. It held you in place, glued your eyes to the noise in front of you. I can’t remember if I bought their EP from them that night or at a later gig, but ‘Another Teen Age’ is my most listened to record I own. That CD is so worn the paint is starting to wear away on it. It’s been wiped from the internet now, but for those who have heard it, you’ll know why. ‘Kenzie’s Farmhouse’ is one of the great Northern Irish alt-rock songs (Hot Cops would laugh at me for saying this) ‘Bill Clinton’ is a slab of Pavement inspired genius and ‘Slouching’ sounds like a band six albums deep. They actually bettered it with ‘#1 Babes’, the EP that came after, but again, according to the internet, it doesn’t exist. One day I might be able to convince them to release those records again…but probably not.
Favourite tracks: All of them.
#6. The Streets – ‘Everything is Borrowed’
Very hard to pick just one of Mike Skinner’s records, but ‘Everything is Borrowed’ wins it for me. My favourite lyricist of all time, the songs on this album transcend music for me. It’s poetry, life lessons handed down by one of life’s good guys. Just a mate talking to you.
Favourite tracks: On the Edge of a Cliff / Alleged Legends / The Escapist
#7. The Thrills – So Much For The City
I’m eight years old in the back of my Dad’s car. We’re heading to the coast, all the windows are down, my Granda Artie is drinking beer in the front seat. My Dad is driving, but he probably is too. The sun is shining, we have a football in the backseat and my Mum and I are singing every word to this incredible record in the sunshine. That’s what this album is to me, that’s where I am every time I listen to it. No surprise we moved to the North Coast and started a band, The Thrills had a massive influence on our lives and have left a beautiful mark.
Favourite tracks: Don’t Steal Our Sun / Til The Tide Creeps In / Your Love Is Like Las Vegas
Comments
Post a Comment