Earlier this month, Leeds emo outfit Track and Field blew us away with their stunning EP – ‘You Are My Home’. If you have yet to hear it, then you’re missing out as it’s four poignant slices of perfectly executed emotional indie rock. It’s a stunning EP that shouldn’t be ignored.
However it has got us thinking why is it so good? What bands inspired Track and Field during the making of ‘You Are My Home’? Well we got in touch with them and asked them to tell us which five bands, or more specifically, albums influenced the EP. Here is what they told us…
Biffy Clyro – Blackened Sky / The Vertigo of Bliss (Mick – Vocals)We decided to take the approach of choosing one band, song or album each, but I’m having to choose one band but two albums as I can’t possibly decide between the two.
The reason I’ve chosen this band and these two albums is that this is the stuff I was listening to about ten years ago when I was around 15-18. This is when I first moved out of home and started to become the person I am. With a diet of heavy paranoia and excessive alcohol and THC consumption it was these records that were one of the few things I found comfort in and that managed to keep me level. These records have also stood the test of time for me. I listen to certain bands I was into when I was younger and I can’t get past the first track, but these records are still absolute bangers today.
Pop Unknown – Summer Season Kills (Richard – Guitar)Although, this was really the second wave of emo, the first wave exemplified by the likes of Rites of Spring and Embrace, this was when I really got into it.
I guess things had been building towards more of a college rock sound through bands like Indian Summer and Christie Front Drive, but this 5 track EP nailed it for me. It’s kinda downbeat overall, but infectiously melodic and driven structurally by the vocals, rather than guitar parts. Check out the outro of ‘Tipping the Scale’, layers of vocal harmonies morphing into each other. Pop Unknown never topped this record, as they developed their sound I felt they lost that indie simplicity which made this record special. Pretty much what happened to Deep Elm records too. First four years of releases are pretty solid, and then they signed Fightstar?! I reckon they didn’t know about the Busted connection because there’s no excuse for that.
Jimmy Eat World – Clarity (Dan – Bass)This is the first album I ever got to listen to in its entirety on my brothers hand me down tape player. It’s a contrast of raw guitar driven melodies combined with slower more orchestrated songs. ‘Your New Aesthetic’, my favourite from the album is an example of a driven muted verse followed by a massive chorus layered up with delicate backing vocal harmonies. The contrast of rawness and emotion with more considered delicate writing on the album definitely has parallels to what we’ve done with ‘You Are My Home’. Except there’s no 16 minute closing track on ours. That’s just indulgent.
Mineral – The Power of Failing (Jon – Guitar)I think everyone deep down knows that those archetypal bands from the early 90’s have had an effect on the overarching guitar sound of Track and Field. ‘The Power of Failing’ is no exception and it’s obviously a record that ranks highly in the canon of emo history as it were. Stand out tracks like ‘Gloria’ and ‘Parking Lot’ draw you in and make you think “I really want to write a song as epic as this”.
Elliott – Song In The Air (John Defenzi – Drums)Elliott were a band who developed substantially between each record they released. ‘Song In The Air’ came out in 2003 and refined the production and songwriting heard in their earlier work. It locked on to a sound which continues to define them today, as they split up after they recorded it. They seamlessly blended post-hardcore and post-rock to create an album that I have been listening to for years.
Mick (Vocals):
There’s definitely a lot of common ground amongst the bands influences and our collective passion for punk and hardcore music can’t go without an honourable nod. The bands we have all previously played in have surely had a significant impact on Track and Field’s sound and writing process and these experiences coupled with the appreciation for everything we have listed above I suppose is how we find our music coming together as it does.
‘You Are My Home’ EP by Track and Field is out now.