We asked our friends in Gloomy June to put together a guest list for us – a list of the six bands/artists they can agree on when embarking on a long drive together. Devin, Alexi, Jack and Ash run through their half-dozen favorites below, along with their standout tracks for each artist. Read on to find out which Prince song always gives Jack the chills.
1
AFI
Devin: AFI was the first artist I found myself in the fandom of. I was very much into music as a teen as a result of having a hip mom and a musician dad that introduced me to a lot of goth, industrial, punk, and post-punk bands from the 80s. I was also from Berkeley California and Green Day was becoming extremely popular which got me into modern and local punk music. AFI was the next logical step being a punk band with goth and post-punk aesthetics and was also local to the area. After hearing them on local radio and getting really into the culture at 924 Gilman (the local DIY all ages punk venue) me and my friends became obsessed, joined their message boards, and started wearing eyeliner to be like Davey Havok. Since they were local I was able to go to a lot of the shows, stand in the front row, and meet them several times just wandering about town. I was also learning guitar at the time and was captivated by Jade Puget’s guitar style as he infused more complicated chords and playing styles into his punk riffs which made it very novel and inspiring to me. I spend a lot of time listening and playing along to their music in high school so they will always be really important to me, especially the albums “Black Sails In The Sunset”, “The Art Of Drowning”, and “Sing the Sorrow”.
- Devin: Narrative of Soul Against Soul
- Alexi: Silver And Cold
- Jack: Days of the Phoenix
- Ash: This Celluloid Dream
2
CHVRCHΞS
Alexi: I first came across Chvrches with their song “Recover”, through some early streaming platform- either emusic or lastfm. The first thing I noticed was the singer Lauren Mayberry’s voice that was so clean on top of the synths, along with the rhythmic pattern of the vocals which hooked me by absolutely confusing me. They came up during the EDM wave of the early 2010’s, and to me were the only electronic artists that were also a “band;” that was a relief at a time that bands seemed to be phasing out entirely. Chvrches made futuristic pop music that was exactly like the music I wanted to make at the time, right down to the cryptic but clearly enraged lyrics, with melodies that were ethereal and anthemic. I talk about them a lot in the past tense here, not because I love them less now, but because they’ve continued to grow and change along with my music taste, incorporating organic drums and heavier guitars, and I’m both nostalgic about how it felt when I first heard them, and inspired by their music today.
- Devin: Clearest Blue
- Alexi: Gun
- Jack: The Mother We Share
- Ash: He Said She Said
3
Prince
Jack: While growing up in Minnesota I’d always perk up whenever hearing Prince songs being played on the radio. There was something so infectious about his songwriting, the way he used vocal harmonies, the flourishing of the song, those rhythms. He was our hometown hero, our maestro, a success story of a brilliant and prodigious musician who put Minneapolis on the map and proved artistry can come from anyone and anywhere, plus that it was ok to be a little strange. I would eagerly gobble up stories of older musicians I’d meet who had jammed with him back in the “early days”, or my relative’s tales of wild nights being in his entourage or extras in his videos. I think Gloomy June vibes with Prince because of our love of pushing norms and captivating pop songs that leave you wanting more. My favorite Prince song is “When Doves Cry” – that last chorus will always give me the chills.
- Devin: Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?
- Alexi: Let’s Go Crazy
- Jack: When Doves Cry
- Ash: I Would Die 4 U
4
Jimmy Eat World
Devin: Jimmy Eat World has been a big influence on me as a songwriter. I’ve always loved how they manage to blend major and minor chords to maintain an overall bittersweet sound; I find myself doing that a lot when I write Gloomy June songs. They get lumped in with a lot of “emo” pop punk bands but I’ve always found the majority of their music to be hopeful and positive in nature in a way that separated them from their contemporaries. However I love that they also write harder darker deep cuts like “Stay By My Side Tonight”. I especially love Jim Adkins as a guitarist. He isn’t the most impressive shredder but it’s cool to see him sing a catchy chorus and then immediately shift into a stylish guitar solo that incorporates aspects of his melodies. I got into them when I first heard “Bleed American'' though as a hipster young teen I was a little grumpy to see them blowing up on MTV with “The Middle”, a song I felt got way overplayed at the time. I love the song now and think we do a solid cover of it.
- Devin: 23
- Alexi: Sweetness
- Jack: The Middle
- Ash: Bleed American
5
Explosions In The Sky
Ash: I first heard Explosions in the Sky when I was coming up on acid for the very first time in my life. I was in college and it was 2007. I was with one of my best friends, and he told me not to listen to them until we were tripping. The first song was “Greet Death” and the song completely crushed in on me. I had never heard anything like it. I loved how much a completely instrumental band could communicate so much without any lyrics. It felt like the biggest sound I had ever heard and just felt like the feeling of being overwhelmed. It made me feel really small, in a good way. Since then I’ve gotten into a TON of heavier instrumental stuff but Explosions was the gateway for that for me.
- Devin: First Breath After Coma
- Alexi: So Long Lonesome
- Jack: First Breath After Coma
- Ash: Greet Death
6
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is kind of an odd band to be a hipster about but I’ve loved them since their campy (and fairly heavy) first album about vampires, “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love”. I thought they had an extremely unique approach with a combination of emo, punk, and metal, with extremely cool guitar playing, dramatic vocals, and ostentatious gothic aesthetics. As a spooky kid who was already obsessed with AFI this was a perfect addition to my record rotation. However by the time their second and third albums came out they blew up and became associated with mall goth culture, which unfortunately ruined their cred with some of my “cooler’ friends. I stayed true and appreciated how their sound evolved on each album, even when they veered into more of a pop sound. I was extremely validated to see them have somewhat of a renaissance in the last few years with so many people finally admitting they are actually a really talented band (unfortunately to the point where I couldn’t get or afford tickets to their reunion tour which mostly didn’t happen anyways because of aspects of the current era I won’t mention). I especially love Ray Toro’s combination of clever metal influenced guitar riffs and glam rock guitar solos.
- Devin: The Ghost Of You
- Alexi: Bulletproof Heart
- Jack: The Kids from Yesterday
- Ash: Give ‘Em Hell Kid
