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, Brogeal.
The Clash – Somebody Got Murdered
Aidan: This is the first song I remember hearing, and it’s remained my favourite song ever since. I always wanted to play it on the guitar, and it introduced me to The Clash, who will always be my favourite band.
Wolf Alice – Lisbon
Aidan: What a tune. When this comes on, I’m instantly transported back to being a pissed teenager in a silly badge-covered denim jacket. I hung around behind Fat Sam’s in Dundee to meet the band after their show, and I’ve got a Wolf Alice tattoo. They are the soundtrack to my teenage years, and this song sums them up for me.
Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Euan: I remember finding out at an early age that Black Sabbath were basically the first legitimately heavy band. That kind of made them feel all mystical to me in a way. They’re also one of those classic bands that you learn the riffs of when you’re first learning guitar as a fifteen-year-old. All the classic tunes by Sabbath are amazing, but this track specifically always stood out. I think it’s the really heavy intro and the fact that the chorus is really calm and beautiful. A nice juxtaposition. I also played it in school for some kind of talent show on my first proper guitar. Probably very badly with far too much gain and effects.
Algernon Cadwallader – Spit Fountain
Euan: My good pal Cammy introduced me to Algernon Cadwallader in my late teens/early twenties, and I was blown away. Just a deadly band that has a lot of energy. ‘Spit Fountain’ specifically opened my mind to what guitar playing could really be – it didn’t just have to be strumming chords, ever. Also, the relationship the band makes between the bass and guitar is so interesting and inspiring to hear. They’ve made a comeback and released a new album after like over ten years. It’s unreal, as if they never left.
The Beatles – Here, There and Everywhere
Daniel: I remember the first time I heard ‘Revolver’ by The Beatles. I couldn’t believe that it was the same band that wrote ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘She Loves You’, albeit great tracks. This album just sounded fresh and simply cool, but it’s ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ that is the pinnacle of the album for me and a track I just keep coming back to on the regular. It flows with such grace and beauty and epitomises the feeling of being hopelessly in love – I think it’s the greatest, most beautiful melody ever written.
The Pogues – The Body of an American
Daniel: This track has everything you could ever want or need in a Pogues song. It’s a ballad that inevitably kicks in rambunctiously like a kick in the jaw. It’s a song about being of Irish heritage, which always gives me a feeling of pride and makes the hairs stand on end. The lyrics remind me of my own booze-fuelled family parties: “But fifteen minutes later we had our first taste a whiskey, there was uncles givin’ lectures on ancient Irish history”. It’s like orchestrated chaos with every member of the band being an absolute master of their craft and MacGowan’s drunken voice is at its peak – this song is impossible to not love.
Teenage Fanclub – Sparky’s Dream
Sam: Ever since I heard this at 15, I’ve always found myself uplifted by the euphoric, sonic bliss that courses through this track. I still get that sensation when I listen to it today. It is Power Pop Perfection, harkening back to bands like Big Star, and it’s these jangling, burning guitar tones I try to emulate on the bouzouki. It is perhaps the most underrated pop song to come out of Scotland.
Palma Violets – Best of Friends
Sam: I remember my brother had 180 on CD, and this was the opener. As soon as I heard it, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. The rawness of the instrumentation pairing perfectly with Chilli and Sam’s deep rolling vocals – it informed me that things don’t have to be too technical to sound great. They were the blueprint for wearing a pair of Docs with white socks and wanting to start my own band – a group I’ve always wanted more from. I remember many a messy night, screaming every word with some good pals, arms locked round each other’s shoulders, and life couldn’t have felt better. It is an Absolute Mega Beet.
The Damned – Love Song
Luke: In my adolescence, I took it upon myself to research genres of music I might not have necessarily enjoyed before, to impress the people I went to school with. By doing so, I started to really broaden my taste in music. I remember discovering ‘Love Song’ by The Damned. The first listen to that had a profound impact on me as a person and probably altered how I would go on to interpret art and music for the foreseeable. The energy of that song will always give me a buzz. These days, I’d always hope to create something as frantic as they did.
Michael Marra & Mr McFall’s Chamber – Happed in Mist
Luke: While we were recording the album on the Isle of Lewis, I had James Robertson’s Michael Marra: Arrest This Moment on my bedside table. I’ll admit, I didn’t read it as much as I would’ve liked, but having it on my person was extremely important to me at the time. Listening to Michael Marra fills me with great pride. He reminds me of home when I’m not anywhere near. And this particular song of his is extremely sad. Listening to such a song leaves me with great melancholy. However, I find it calming, so I really don’t mind it for a couple of minutes. Enough to inspire me to play and write with purpose.
Brogeal debut album ‘Tuesday Paper Club’ is out now.
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