The noisy pair have great taste in tunes
We really like Tooth & Nail. They’re a duo from Leeds, and they write the sort of angry grunge-rock songs that make you sit up and turn the radio up a couple of notches. This is their new single – it’s called Troubled Times, and it’s great:
They’re really rather good, aren’t they
In all honesty, we don’t think that they’re bad at all. Now, if there’s one thing we’ve learned here at One on One, it’s that people who make great music usually have pretty good taste in tunes themselves. That’s why we couldn’t resist asking Tooth & Nail to make us a playlist of their favourite songs; and, of course, they sent over a playlist packed full of some absolutely brilliant rock tunes. Here’s Mike and Dan from the band telling you a bit about some of their choices:
Livin’ On The Edge – Aerosmith
Mike – ‘This is the song that made me want to be in band. I was 10. I was in a pub in Leeds with my Mum and Auntie, and the video for this song came on the TV. It blew my tiny little mind and I knew what I was born to do! My first gig ended up being an Aerosmith concert a couple of years later.
Atlantic City – Bruce Springsteen
Dan – ‘This to me is everything good about Springsteen in one song – brilliant lyrics, classic rock chords, vocals that sound like he’s lived every story he’s told. I don’t trust any songwriter who says the Nebraska album isn’t a big influence on them, and I think he sounds as good stripped right down as he does with the E Street Band.
God Is On The Radio – Queens of the Stone Age
Mike – ‘QOTSA are an amazing band, both live and on record and Joshua Homme really knows how to bring together amazingly talented musicians. On God Is On The Radio, the drums, bass and wailing guitar all come together gloriously to create a wonderful crescendo of heavy melodic loveliness.
The Tracks Of My Tears – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Dan – ‘This is one of my favourite songs of all time. Everything is perfect – the vocal performance, the horn and string arrangements, the groove…the combination of the joyous music and the heartbroken lyrics is just genius. If you’re a singer you’re basically playing catch up to the Motown era, even now.
Time – Pink Floyd
Mike – ‘For me, this is the quintessential song about being English and going through adolescence. It’s a kaleidoscope of sounds and feelings crashing together in a wave of euphoric scepticism, all accompanied by the brilliance and near perfect musicianship of the mighty Pink Floyd. I discovered this record when I was 15 and it changed my life
Heart-Shaped Box – Nirvana
Dan – ‘It’s hard to understand the cultural impact of Nirvana. They destroyed hair-metal, 80’s rock posturing overnight, and even now they sound so feral compared to a lot of current boyband pop-punk on MTV. In Utero is such a raw, noisy album that you can’t believe it was following up Nevermind, which had sold millions of copies. What a brave move – no band now would follow massive radio and MTV hits with a punk, super-dark Steve Albini album. Plus Dave Grohl’s drum sound on this album is out of this world!
Like those? Check out Tooth & Nail’s full playlist: