Music
WACO’s five essential records that shaped them
Meet Venn Records’ latest set of rowdy punk rockers, WACO. The London four-piece have taken everything they love about ’70s rock and moulded it into a fresh, even more rebellious sound.
Ahead of shows with The Dirty Nil and Juliette & The Licks, WACO tell us their five most influential records and why they love them…
1. Gorilla Biscuits – Start Today
This is early ’80s hardcore perfection, brimming with pure positivity and frenetic energy. Fourteen flat-out, positive tracks in what feels like as many minutes. Gorilla Biscuits made teenage angst-ridden, mosh music with a good heart and soul. They also understood not to take themselves too seriously, which can be a problem for bands in the hardcore scene and it really adds something that you can believe in when listening to them or seeing them live.
2. Steely Dan – Aja
A masterpiece. It has brought endless summer sunshine to our London lives and long drives to gigs. Steely Dan have a career full of stupendous albums but this is their peak, in all its soulful, jazz-rock elegance. Their meticulous approach to songcraft and the love and time they put into the production process are extremely inspiring for us. This is never off our stereo.
3. Rush – Moving Pictures
As experimental as it is rock ‘n roll, as progressive as it is hook-laden, this is Rush at their most powerful. So many of their albums are great but this one is the classic. Every track is superb. Never has there been a band where each member is at the top of their game like these three Canadian nerds. TUNE IN!
4. Melvins – Houdini
The Melvins are true alternative icons. They seem to live in their own world and constantly put out great records that always uphold their uniqueness. The sound scape they create is enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, the scream at the beginning of Night Goat does it every time. It’s moody, weird, unsettling and f**king heavy, a definite warm-up album for us to meditate to before we play a show.
5. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Instrumentally it really influences us, the subtle, beautiful progressions and flawless melodies are something we can only admire from afar. Their brilliance spans from the delicate Songbird to the rock ‘n roll of Don’t Stop, and all on the same record. In a similar vein to Queen, each band member writes and brings a lot of different ideas to the songs; something we try to do as much as possible. They prove that often simplicity is key, even with the calibre of these songs, it keeps you coming back time and time again.
Win tickets to see WACO support The Dirty Nil in the UK this May.
Check out WACO’s video for SE17 below…
