The Inspiration & Isolation playlist began as a small collaborative collection of songs that Rich and I were discussing covering for a possible covers EP following the release of our third album, Declaration of Devastation. From there, it grew to include tracks by artists we've shared the stage with: TRAITRS, Darkswoon, False Figures, Vexagon, and others.
The playlist still felt quite light, so we started adding newer and revivalist post-punk and darkwave, particularly the more melodic, bass-forward stuff. We are two bassists, after all. From there, we dug a little deeper, adding some genre deep cuts that you might recognize as influential to the Vague Lanes sound. Really, what would Vague Lanes be without “Musette and Drums,” “The Last Song,” or “Perfume Garden”?
Eventually, the playlist came together into something less like a collection of songs and more like a road map of the music that has shaped us, both directly and indirectly. Maybe you'll find something new, or revisit a forgotten deep cut from a fresh perspective.
A few tracks of note...
Trisome 21 “The Last Song”
Rich calls this the Rosetta Stone (no, not the band, the actual stone) of the Vague Lanes sound. Mike recorded this off college radio (sorry T21) when he was young, and it had a profound effect on his approach to the bass. There are certain records that don't just influence you; they quietly become part of the way you hear and play music. The original EP version of this track is one of those records for Mike.
Cocteau Twins “Musette and Drums”
Huge drums from the Cocteau Twins. While we tend to go for a more assertive Wax Trax! feel with our drums, this track could certainly be seen as a blueprint for the percussive ethos of Vague Lanes. There's an incredible physicality to the rhythm section here, and that sense of atmosphere and propulsion is something we keep coming back to.
Lowlife “Eternity Road”
Choosing a Lowlife track seems like a bit of a cheat. Mike's vocals have been compared to Craig Lorentson's, and Will Heggie's influence can be heard throughout our second album, Divergence and Declaration. Lowlife sits pretty close to the center of the Vague Lanes universe, so this one was almost inevitable.
Darkswoon “Eaten by Wolves”
This track was fed to Mike (see what we did there) through a weekly Release Radar playlist. The bass, because of its forward motion, and the vocals, because of their raw emotional quality, immediately stood out. We got in touch with the band and have since toured together.
Norah Lynn might just be the best bassist in modern post-punk, and Jana Cushman has an incredible talent to convey exactly what is troubling them through their vocals. There's something immediate and unvarnished about this track that we really connect with.
Mike C