Fresh off the release of their first album in 8 years, the captivating “Late Night Conversations With God”, Scottish/English emotive indie rock band THIS FAMILIAR SMILE are joining us today to give you their top 10 tracks that shaped their identity as a band.
Asked about the lyrical content behind their moody, uplifting songs, the band comments: “We like our songs to be literal, lyrically clear and concise, not hidden behind metaphors etc, just honest songs about our view of the world and our places in it.”
“”Late Night Conversations With God” is an album about soul searching, its about who you talk to at the end of the day when youβve taken as much as you can, when youβve had too much to drink, when work gets too much, Its yourself, its your best friend, its the internet, its whatever you need to feel ok.
These are songs about living and everything that goes along with it.”
Where do I begin with this album? If youβre looking for the pop punk/emo version of The Smiths – this could be it. The guitar lines are subtle, yet well thought out. The drums pace the album well. The vocals are the star for me – something about them reminds me of Morrissey. They are dramatic, but not overly so. They are adventurous without being distracting. Also, accents are great. / Growing Up Punk
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At The Drive-In – One Armed Scissor:
This hit right at the perfect time for us all, seeing the video come on MTV2 and hearing something that weβve never really heard before, the intensity of it all. This is how we like loud guitars to be, let the bass player and drummer hold the song,use the guitars to paint around it.
Weezer – My Name Is Jonas
First band that made me pick up a guitar, countless covers of this song and pretty much every other song from their first two albums is how we learned to play.
American Football – Never Meant
If you are going to use clean guitars in your music, you canβt go wrong if you aim this high, every note is the perfect note that should be played at any given time.
Idlewild – Actually Its Darkness
This album was Nevermind to me and a lot of other Scottish kids at the time, Its that important, great song from one of our absolute favourites.
Frightened Rabbit – State Hospital
This is how you do honesty on record, no frills, nothing hidden, just an unfiltered world view, maybe its because we live in the places that these songs do in Scotland.
Tellison – Say Silence (Heaven & Earth)
How Tellison arenβt the biggest band in Britain is a complete mystery to us and probably everyone who has ever heard them, perfect song structure, perfect lyrical content, perfect melody, just a great band with incredible songs.
Cursive – Driftwood : A Fairy Tale
Cursive have a mood in their songs, they manage to create a fantastic sense of drama and tension and know how to use dynamics perfectly to sell the songs. Lyrically fantastic wether singing about personal things, or larger concepts.
Sunny Day Real Estate – In Circles
Band that changed my whole taste in music along with At the Drive-In, and singer who most influenced me, felt like i had never heard anything like it, still feel that way now.
Shudder To Think – X French T-Shirt
Craig Wedren is an incredible singer for any style of music. This song is almost one chord throughout but its in no way simple, i love music where i canβt instantly pinpoint how it might have been written, and with Shudder To Think, pretty much every song is like that. Pony Express Record is another absolute favourite record.
The Smiths – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
This is how everything should sound, all songs should feel like they are this important to people. Perfect guitars, perfect vocal melodies, just song writing at its absolute peak. Cannot be beaten.
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