Lincoln alt-rockers Carry the Crown released their second EP, ‘Not Alone’ last week. It sees them build on the emotive foundations laid down on their debut outing, ‘Desire’. Tracks like ‘Fire’ and ‘Hometown’ take cues from bands such as Mallory Knox, with powerful vocals and aggressive riffs, while the semi-acoustic ballad, ‘Hold Me’ shows a softer side to the band.
With a sound that’s on almost every measure of the alt-rock scale, Carry the Crown surely have a wide array of influences, which is exactly why we’ve asked the quintet to name their five most influential albums. The results were as varied as you’d expect.
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You Me At Six – Hold Me Down
Martin James (vocalist): This was the album for me that really solidified my own ambition to push myself as a songwriter and vocalist. It really pushes the idea of a guitar driven band that can be incredibly commercial. It’s able to hit the powerful melodic choruses (‘Stay With Me’) and mix it with hard-hitting lead riffs that feel at home in stadium shows (‘Trophy Eyes’).
All of this being led by clean, catchy vocal melodies inspired me to go forward and create something that I really enjoyed listening to as I was growing up. For me, they set the bar on this album for how accessible guitar-based rock can be and how clean vocals can be a huge part of that.
Sum 41 – All Killer, No Filler
Simon Carroll (guitarist): This album is one of my all-time favourites. It was the first album I ever bought for my personal collection. It meant a lot to me musically as, growing up, I always wanted to play the guitar and these were the tracks that fuelled my passion to learn. The time I spent learning to play tracks like ‘Fat Lip’ has helped shape me into the player I am today. I find ‘All Killer No Filler’ to be a timeless classic from start to finish and has exactly what the title says… it’s refreshing, energetic and upbeat. When songwriting, I try to emulate a feeling which matches with some of those vibes, whilst working towards something of my own.
Bring Me The Horizon – Sempiternal
James Butcher (drummer): I chose this album because of the wide array of instruments used to create the different songs. With powerful, hard-hitting orchestral choruses supported by the anthemic use of synth makes every listen to the album something special. It is by far one of my all-time favourites, mainly due to the variety of emotions shown in each song and the journey that goes with it. Carry The Crown has given me the opportunity to try to use some of these ideas within our own music.
Green Day – American Idiot
Rupert Tyrer (lead guitar): The reason why I decided to choose this album is that it’s the first album that I ever bought. I’ll never forget buying it at the age of 8 years old. That amazing intro to ‘American Idiot’ blasting out full through my speakers, then the iconic change to ‘Jesus of Suburbia’. It made me completely fall in love with the guitar, amazing riffs and pop-punk in general. Everything was so powerful and emotional. I remember the moment as I just sat there and said, “That’s what I want to do.”
Thirty Seconds to Mars – This Is War
Tom Marsh (bass): Music has always played a key role in my life and it all started with this album. The variety of styles and influences brought into this one album, opened my eyes to new techniques and changed the way I listened to music. It’s not just the instrumental side but the message behind the lyrics – it’s about standing up and not letting anyone else tell you what to do. With the signature choir vocals in ‘Kings and Queens’, the powerful vocals of ‘This is War’ and the passion behind the likes of ‘Vox Populi’, it makes this album something special. All of this led me to push myself to write music that relates to how I feel, as a release that people can relate to and hopefully in doing this, it helps others.
‘Not Alone’ EP by Carry The Crown is out now.
Carry The Crown links: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Instagram
Introduction by Ben Mills (@BenMills28).
