Encompassing elements of post-hardcore, emo, hard rock, shoegaze and nu-metal, Canadian band JUNKO DAYDREAM are really hard to label. On their latest single, “A House That God Built,” recorded with Scott Middleton of Cancer Bats, melodic verses are juxtaposed by a heavy, cathartic chorus, and a full-out wall of sound engulfs the listener to represent the overwhelm of the song’s lyrics through the electrified closing section.
Content wise, “A House That God Built” is a distinctly honest exploration of the feelings of guilt and shame that can come with disability.
Today, we’re giving it a special treatment with the band’s playlist of top inspirations and tracks worth a check. Check it out and add it on your Spotify, and check out JUNKO DAYDREAM‘s commentary below.
1) Touche Amore – Flowers and You
We’ve received comparisons to Touche Amore throughout our time as a band. We started listening to them as a result and found their masterful use of dynamics really inspiring. This track is a great example of that and has been on constant rotation for us.
2) Deftones – Digital Bath
You can’t play the type of music we do without drawing at least a little bit of influence from Deftones. Digital Bath is a song that continues to build as it progresses and leads to a huge payoff and that’s something we incorporated into “A House that God Built”
3) Manchester Orchestra – Cope
If anyone has ever written a better song than this, I haven’t heard it. Masterful use of dynamics and controlled feedback, beautiful harmonies, and the fattest indie/emo/alt riff in existence. – Scott
4) Yebba – My Mind
I was working on my voice in quarantine and was down a vocal coach rabbit-hole on youtube and I found this song and listened to it 15 times in a row. I feel like she’s one of the most emotional and expressive singers of our generation. I was definitely trying to compete with her (and myself) when I was putting together my vocal parts for the new track and I revisited this track many times. – Jack
5) Tyler The Creator – A Boy is a Gun
I love this whole album for it’s honesty around a sensitive subject matter. It’s bravery like that out in the music world that inspires me to pour my heart into my lyrics in a genuine way. Listen to the whole album!
– Jack
6) letlive. – 27 Club
I was listening to this album on repeat during the process of recording, Banger album. The bass is just super fat and hits hard despite being subdued in the mix. – Alex
7) The Chariot – David De La Hoz
If we had a nickel for every time our live show has been compared to The Chariot, we would have a lot more money in our band fund. We go hard, The Chariot goes hard, this song goes hard. Listener also does a killer feature on this track that we all love.
8) Dead and Divine – Creature
Fellow Canadian heavy band that we listen to constantly. All of their songs have a killer groove and are perfect examples of how simple parts can sometimes hit the hardest. Dead and Divine please come back, it’s been 10 years. We weren’t old enough to go to your shows when you broke up!
9) O’Brother – Perilous Love
The walls of sound these guys create are incredible. The juxtaposition of the clean vocals against the grinding, down- tempo riffing of this track keeps us coming back to it.
10) Basement – Aquasun
We got into Basement on the ground floor and have been hooked ever since. We followed their releases and love the way they grew as a band, and hope to do the same ourselves. We hope to play with these guys some day!
Honourable Mention / Not on the Spotify playlist:
11) Merchant Ships – Sleep Patterns
We don’t know if this song is supposed to be funny or not and at this point we’re too afraid to ask. Either way, we listen to this song a lot. It’s also not on spotify so we’ve included a youtube link.
