Inspired by and recorded in the city of the same name, Seattle is the upcoming EP from Sydney garage-pop-punkers Bloods. Fronted by Marihuzka Cornelius/MC, and with Dirk Jonker on drums, and Mike Morgan providing guitar, bass and backing vocals, the trio’s latest is a love letter to 90s rock and iconic turn of the century teen movies.
Recorded at Jack Endino‘s (Nirvana’s Bleach) Sound House studio, the grunge influences continued to pour in, with Steve Fisk on production and mixing (Soundgarden, Mudhoney). All that, plus getting to use the amp Kurt Cobain used on Nirvana’s debut album? Yep, the minds of every moody 90s teen just collectively blew.
Check out latest single “I Hate It” below!
Ahead of the release, we teamed up with the band and got the lowdown on some of the tracks that inspired Seattle.
MIKE
Drab Majesty – “39 By Design”
On our US trip and in the period of time surrounding the recording of the EP I was listening to The Demonstration album constantly. There is a distant almost nostalgia in the way Drab Majesty sounds to me which I absolutely love, and it reminds me of how I felt discovering music as a teenager. This song (and the album as a whole, really) inspired me to focus on the performance in the moment to create energy and vibe. Not musically obvious, but I can’t think of the recording of this EP without this song playing in my mind.
U.S. Girls – “Pearly Gates”
This song is a standout on an incredible album (In A Poem Unlimited). For me having transitioned to bass from guitar and the band being a trio again, I really wanted to push myself to come up with interesting basslines for these songs. This song has a sweet moving bassline over a relatively straight beat, and I was completely taken by the way it makes the song move. The groove is just killer! So I tried to keep that movement in mind when when putting parts together for the songs on the EP.
Brutus – “Drive”
The performance of this track is absolutely electric, and the band are super tight. A glorious piece of upbeat, straight-down-the-line rock, this was a huge influence on the way I wanted to lock in with Dirk and MC to capture these tunes. The delivery is just relentless, and I have always loved it when bands sound like a gang – all moving in the same direction with the same intensity. The energy is off the charts. I was really trying to conjure up that kind of vibe for the faster tunes on the EP, particularly “New Guy” and “Girls Are Just Fucking Cool Like That”.
DIRK
Judas Priest – “Electric Eye”
A couple of days before we left for the US to make Seattle, Mike and I went to Download festival, and a real highlight of the day was Priest! Rob Halford is 68 years old, and belts like it’s 1985 again! I spent the flight over with this classic track on repeat, reliving that epic show. I think the rock solid rhythm of this tune in particular influenced the way I approached the drumming on the EP, I wanted it to give the songs a tight, locked-in feel which felt appropriate for what I felt the songs deserved.
The Strokes – “One Way Trigger”
During the recording of the EP, I was listening to a lot of the last Strokes album, Comedown Machine, and particularly this track. For me, this is the best thing they’ve ever done and it really showcases what’s great about latter-era Strokes. It was co-written by Albert and Julian, and really plays to both of their strengths as songwriters I think. This song has a real weight to it melodically, and gives off a depth that I think I had in mind when the band were arranging the songs for Seattle.
MC
Josie and the Pussycats (written by Adam Schlesinger) – “Pretend To Be Nice”
This song really influenced the rhythm and tone of the song “I Hate It”. It is the ultimate teen movie soundtrack song IMO, and the way it’s actually a really fun sounding song about something that is a bit sad, is right up my street. When I sat down with the guitar, I tried to mimic the staccato strum and the song just poured out.<
Green Day – “She”
I love this song and it was a huge influence on the song “The New Guy”. I think it might be the same chord progression in a lot of the song! It’s such a fun song, but it’s also quiet scathing. Most of all, I wanted for us to try to match that balance of scrappy pop punk attitude with a really melodic, sing along style top line.
Nat King Cole – “L-O-V-E”
This was my main influence when writing the song “U & M E”. Obviously musically it’s nothing like that song, I loved the concept of writing a song that used the alphabet to spell out sweet nothings. I thought it actually really matched the immaturity of infatuation.
Kim Wilde – “Kids in America”
“Kids in America” was the kind of frenetic energy and urgency I really wanted to get across in “U & M E”. I also love how you have Kim’s really bratty voice backed by really masculine gang vocals. We tried to mimic that on “U & M E”.
Liz Phair – “Supernova”
I absolutely love Liz’s voice on this song and the way her vocal is captured and when we went into record, this was a really big reference for the song “Waste of Time”.
Bikini Kill – “Alien She”
When we decided to do the cover of The Smith’s “Some Girl’s Are Bigger than Others” I wanted it to sound like when you listen to this song. I wanted it to be in your face and super confident and in your face. I thought we could reclaim those lyrics and turn it into something that was really almost a feminist anthem. Kind of like ‘some girls are bigger than others – SO WHAT?!’
Bloods’ Seattle is out on Friday May 15th. Pre-order it on Bandcamp here.
You can stay up to date with all things Bloods via their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
