London-based alternative rock/metal trio Them Bloody Kids released their debut album ‘Radical Animals’ today. We spoke to vocalist Seb Moederle-Lumb about the tracks that inspire him.
Scars on Broadway – ‘Stoner Hater’
This song has it all when it comes to TBK’s sound / style inspiration! Amazingly catchy, fast paced lyrics, easy to learn and based on a poem so everyone already knows them. Chuggy and groovy guitars with blast drums that keep you head banging from the start with delicious tempo changes that create huge drops.
The Offspring – ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’
Another amazing song that inspires us compositionally. Catchy, fast, groovy and slightly cheesy, all the key elements that makes TBK so enjoyable and drives the audience to sing and dance.
AC/DC – ‘TNT’
This track has such drive from the start and is so simply put together. The kind of track that you get in montages in movies that everyone knows and can be played during any scenario, and it fits perfectly! A sing along classic, basic drums and riffs, chanting and the “Oi’s” have definitely inspired radical animals.
Papa Roach – ‘Last Resort’
Ok it sounds cheesy but it’s a banger and we all know it! Anyway I think this was my first taste of nu metal, getting the train to school and listening to their whole Infest album and really just feeling the heavy guitars, I think subconsciously this started my need for heavy guitar in the music I listened to. Also the lyrics were something that as a depressed teenager I really connected with like, fuck. Other people are pissed off and suicidal too, I guess that’s nice.
Queens of the Stone age – ‘My God is the Sun’
This song really got me, I loved the riff and the danceability of it and I think at the time I was going through a really crucial part of my development as a songwriter and I was smashing QOTSA like constantly their ‘…Like Clockwork’ album, and it took me away from this classic four chord acoustic rock stuff to more alternative electric guitar based rock with a drum kit that really gave you that beat to dance to and the choruses to sing along to.
Muse – ‘Hysteria’
Well it’s a classic but this track really got me to understand that you can use one riff and build from that with the rest of the instrumentation. The idea of playing a riff on repeat and allowing the drums and the other instruments to really build the tension of that riff blew me away and that really inspired a lot of my writing at the time with my previous band but it’s very noticeable within the TBK sound also.
System of a Down – ‘Violent Pornography’
Here’s one of the culprits for my deep adoration of everything SOAD. This tune had everything; the catchy vocal lines, the tongue twisters, the beautiful melodies and the crazy guitar parts that are danceable as your most beloved rave tunes from the ’90s. This song also reignited my love for vocal harmonies, which we didn’t do enough of on this album apart from ‘The Demon’, but expect plenty on the next. Anyway, this song with its interchanging sections opened my eyes to a different style of writing for me.
School of Rock – ‘School of Rock (Teachers Pet)’
Well this song encapsulates the whole film and this film had a huge effect on me as a writer and just generally as a kid, this film helped me see exactly what I wanted to do and the style of music I wanted to pursue. And to this day I still love Jack Black and Tenacious D his (and KG’s) musical genius is something that needs to be more widely appreciated – they’re f*cking rad!
Bullet for my Valentine – ‘Your Betrayal’
This whole album (‘Fever’) was insane, it had everything I was looking for at the time as I was getting into more riff based rock/metal with melodic vocal lines. This really pushed my love of the riff ahead of my love for a cracking vocal line and that was huge for me. Everything about this track makes you want to nod your head and that’s what I strive to achieve within the TBK sound.
Black Sabbath – ‘Black Sabbath’
I mean this album… come on. Wow. This album was a huge influence for me when I first delved into the realms of Sabbath. This song was just what I needed when I heard it first. I had been looking for something with the same style and vibe. The guitar, the vocals, the drums, everything was just perfection. It made me realise you can do a lot with just three or four notes and it was a huge influence for our track ‘Light on Upstairs’. Three-quarters of the way through when it changes, it’s such a great build up, really something to strive for within my own writing. All the Sabbath stuff really got to me and ignited my love for blues and early ’70s rock, and bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin etc.