Dork’s heading oop North later this month to take over a stage at Live At Leeds, with a line-up that features former Dork cover act VANT alongside other faves Get Inuit, Idles, several bands with ‘dead’ in their name, and loads more. It’s going to be great.
To get us in the spirit, a bunch of the bands are putting together playlists in the lead up – including Dead Pretties, who below run through the artists and bands who’ve inspired them to get to this point.
Frank Zappa – Muffin Man
Frank Zappa’s work ethic and sound is a massive inspiration for us. Captain Beefhart’s gravelly vocals over the muffin man riff is tantalising. Terry Bozzio’s drumming is just as tasty as the muffin itself.
Phobophobes – The Never Never
Phobophobes are a band who have restored our faith in humanity and modern music. Supporting them on their single launch was a monumental pleasure. The never never is a contradiction of most modern music with its upbeat instrumental, yet melancholy lyrics forming a coalition of beauty.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Stagger Lee
Nick cave is a man of genius and wonder. The atmospheric bass line and gritty guitar compliment his aggressive voice vividly. His threatening voice is so clearly dictated that you can almost hear the spit landing on the microphone.
Tom Waits – Heartattack And Vine
Tom Waits is definitely our main source for inspiration currently, mainly, as he reinvents himself effortlessly with each album he creates. Ranging from slow ballads to taking on different personas to create a intense almost crampsesque sound . We chose Heartattack and Vine as it never seems to get old and has great lyrics. “don’t you know there ain’t No devil, there’s just god when he’s drunk”
Morphine – Cure For Pain
Morphine are masters of simplicity and bringing songs/instruments down to the bare bones without compromising the quality. We’ve only really started listening recently but they definitely are one of the more overlooked and underrated bands. They have shown that less can be more.
The Amazing Snakeheads – Nighttime
Having seen Dale Barclay’s new project (And Yet It Moves) live, we were quick to realise he was one of the greatest frontman out there at the moment. ‘Nighttime” creates a very sinister and dark atmosphere from the first note and is one of our favourite tracks of his. This definitely deserves more attention than it’s getting.
The Stranglers – Hanging Around
JJ Burnell is one our favourite bassists with a very unique style of playing. He plays bass more as if it were a guitar and makes it a much more prominent instrument giving bassists everywhere the right to fuel their ego and not be the boring, quiet one at the back
Live At Leeds will take place on 29th April. Visit liveatleeds.com for more information.