Diarrhea Planet just released their incredible new album, Turn to Gold, today, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring you this killer playlist of tracks that inspired their eclectic sound. Each member of the band contributed a couple songs below, and when you look through the playlist as a whole, you’ll find that together they have amazingly diverse taste in music. This variety itself is apparent in the album, from the influence of The Who’s “Let it Out” to that of Cheap Trick on “Surrender.” They also did an amazing job of translating those influences — the descriptions below make for a superbly absorbing read. Like the songs on this playlist, Turn to Gold changes almost completely from song to song, making it a wild ride for any fan of rock tunes. Listen below and enjoy!
The Who – The Amazing Journey/Sparks
I wrote “Bob Dylan’s Grandma” over the course of a few years, so it’s hard to pin down specific references, but The Who’s Live at Leeds was definitely in heavy rotation. “Ah, Live at Leeds: a band on speed discovers the pocket,” a friend once quipped. “The Amazing Journey/Sparks” suite is a highlight. With non-diatonic harmony and use of leitmotif, it distills Romantic composition techniques into a concise little piece that kicks serious ass. – Emmett
Avenged Sevenfold – “Strength Of The World”
These guys are well known for their guitar heroics, but the solo towards the end of this song is one of my favorites off of their City Of Evil album. This type of melodic soloing (with some flourishes sprinkled in, of course) is generally what I try to shoot for when I’m writing a solo. – Evan
The Vaccines – “Nørgaard”
This band is too good. The melodies are catchy, the lyrics are clever and succinct, and the arrangements are tasteful. These are the kind of songs I have in mind when we’re arranging a new DP song. – Evan
My Bloody Valentine – “Soon”
This whole album is a testament to the power of using the studio as an instrument. There’s really nothing else like it, despite thousands of imitators. I love this song because it’s completely different from anything else on this already unique album. I love the weird violin sample (or whatever it is). Makes me wanna get an old sampler and use it as a songwriting/studio tool. – Brent
Kendrick Lamar – “For Sale (Interlude)”
It’s interesting listening to the Kendrick’s progression from his Section.80 mixtape days to his two official albums. He improves as a rapper by quite a bit, but the biggest difference is the attention to detail in the music. Both good kid, m.A.A.d city and To Pimp a Butterfly are the kind of albums that can only be crafted by spending a whole lot of time in the studio with a team of brilliant producers, engineers, and session musicians. I picked this song because it’s one of the strangest/coolest things I’ve heard on a mainstream hip hop album. – Brent
Smashing Pumpkins – “Geek USA”
Siamese Dream is (for me) a perfect rock record. It’s got huge dynamic shifts, a graceful flow from song to song, and sounds that are undeniably Pumpkins. What I wanted to achieve with Turn To Gold that was inspired by Siamese Dream and this song specifically, was an unmistakeable snare sound. Jimmy Chamberlin’s drums on this track are perfect and his snare sound lays a foundation for the whole record. I think we got pretty close on the album. – Ian
Broken Social Scene – “KC Accidental “
As a drummer, this song certainly inspired me. The beat is clever and takes nothing away from anything else. He isn’t flashy and with so much instrumentation there isn’t room to be masturbatory. I really like this approach, especially when playing in a band with 4 guitars. Serve the song, don’t showcase your talent every chance you get. – Ian
Cheap Trick – “Surrender”
I think this is a perfect song. I love the high lead that draws you in throughout the whole song. I love the pre-chorus and chorus and how they are mashed together during the coda at the end of the song. None of the parts are complicated, but they flow really well and serve the song perfectly. – Mike
Western Medication – “Witch Parade”
This is my roommate’s band, so although this was yet to be released when we were writing Turn to Gold, I had heard this song live a bunch of times. This song and this whole album have some of my favorite bass parts ever and have set the standard for the way I want to play. – Mike
Ivy Green – “I’m Your Television”
I’ve always been a big fan of this song. The reason I love it is because the majority of the song is just one chord being played the whole time, and the vocalist just kind of mixing things up over it. This song was the inspiration behind Headband. Headband is mostly one chord with lead guitars tricking you into thinking more is going on. The vocals and bass jump octaves to build intensity and keep the song going forward (for the first half of the song). – Jordan
Bruce Springsteen – “Atlantic City”
I picked this song because it is my favorite Bruce song, but in reality Bruce in general was my biggest inspiration on this record. My biggest vocal mentors in the past that I studied were Glenn Danzig (Misfits/Danzig) and Tom Gabel/Laura Jane Grace (Against Me!). I felt that I needed to move beyond this sort of bombastic shout-singing and start dialing back to make songs more dynamic. Bruce was the singer I looked to for inspiration in trying to find new ways to sing. He is a master at lining up his syllables with the song’s rhythm section to really allow certain words to punch through. It makes you feel a lot when you listen to him. This technique is super helpful when it comes to singing in your lower register, as you have to rely on those punching syllables to help you cut through the mix. The listener may not catch all the words, but you can make sure they catch the important ones using this tactic. – Jordan
