By reinforcing the message that escapism and detachment holds us back from making significant emotional connections, King Nun’s LAMB can ultimately be considered a personal, honest album that evidences a band willing to take all the risks that come with being their authentic selves, rather than conforming to expectations. See our review for Rachael Currie’s full take on King Nun’s new album, LAMB.
We asked the band nicely if they’d write a little something up on their top 5 formative albums and here’s what what they wrote. Solid list.
Television – Marquee Moon
This must be the first album we all collectively liked. Our tastes in music when we met were rock bands, but there wasn’t much overlap. Once we had all heard this it became something of a touchstone, and really directed the sounds we were exploring. Through Marquee Moon we became obsessed with bands famous for starting at CBGBs, and in turn American bands in general. That’s a big element of our sound – all the albums on this list are from American or Canadian artists.
Richard Hell and the Voidoids – Blank Generation
This was just as significant as Marquee Moon, although more for the attitude towards music rather than sound. This was probably the first punk band we all agreed on, and I still think there’s something in it that’s much more honest and tangible than a lot of what came since. There’s no pretence, but at the same time the songwriting goes deeper than what you might expect.
Neil Young – After The Gold Rush
Another thing we all consider very important to our songwriting is an element of bittersweetness, and while we’re definitely a rock band our songs must always carry some sort of emotional depth for us to like them. A lot of that is due to listening to Neil Young so much, and realising the subtlety available to a songwriter. There have been other similar artists since, like Elliott Smith or Jeff Buckley, but Neil Young was the first.
White Stripes – White Blood Cells
We really like doing things as DIY as we can. For our new album Lamb, our drummer Caius produced the music and our guitarist Ethan painted the cover. A lot of our ethos came from the White Stripes, with White Blood Cells being the first point of reference for us. There was a sense in the music that you could do anything you wanted purely because you wanted to do it. It was very liberating for us.
Pixies – Doolittle
Doolittle, more than anything, is the blueprint for our music. The absurdist lyricism, the spiky guitars, the power a rock band can have while avoiding the cliches – all of these were vital to us, and have carried into what we make now. Pixies a near constant point of reference when we are writing, and we wouldn’t be who we are without them.
King Nun’s LAMB is out now on Marshall Records
