Listen to Earl Grey and it will come as no shock to you that they’re fans of Alexisonfire. Their latest track Nothing is a sub-two-minute blast of rapid-fire mid-noughties American punk angst – despite coming from a ragtag bunch of kids in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
With their new EP The Times You Cross My Mind coming next month, we thought we’d talk to the band about one of their biggest influences and to pick their all-time top ten Alexisonfire tracks.
This Could Be Anywhere In The World
“An all-time classic. It has groove from start to finish, combined with catchy melodies instrumentally and vocally. A real anthem for the melodic hardcore scene and beyond.”
Rough Hands
” That intro still gives us goosebumps – when the drums kick in and the speed of the song raises, you know what dynamic songwriting means. In our opinion this is Alexisonfire’s best ‘calm’ song, if you can call it that. When Lukas (Andrzejewski, bass) was 15 he taught our friend Florian to play this song on guitar. It’s still the only song he can play.”
Dog’s Blood
” This song is more on the punky hardcore side of Alexisonfire, mixing fast drums with heavy instruments and brutal vocals. At least in the first half of the song. However, somewhere around the three-minute mark they manage to break through the noise and deliver an awesome sing-a-long. It’s our drummer’s (Moritz Mewes) favourite Alexisonfire song.”
Boiled Frogs
“The French dinner song. This is a throwback to the gigs we played in France.”
Waterwings
“Okay, so this is an old one, but still our favourite song from the self-titled album. It’s hard to actually say why. The song doesn’t give you a break and once again proves that the simplest songs are often the best ones.”
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Accidents
“Drug me…”
Black As Jet
“A song to go crazy to on every long journey in the Earl Grey van. Fast, hard and heavy. That bass part starting at 2:02 definitely deserves it’s own mention! That tone is insanely intense. Just imagine writing it! Mad props Chris Steele, mad props.”
Old Crows
“The opener of Old Crows/Young Cardinals. I remember when this album came out in 2009 and I asked my dad to pre-order it for me. I came home from school, turned on my CD player and jumped around to this song for quite a while, constantly having the ‘We are not the kids we used to be’ line stuck in my head.”
Counterparts And Number Them
” I once made a terrible tutorial for this song on YouTube.”
We Are The Sound
“This always felt like a good representation of what Alexisonfire stands for. George Pettit’s banging shouts combined with mesmerising cleans by Dallas Green, plus guitar-work to die for and a groovy rhythm section. Alexisonfire at its finest.”
Earl Grey’s new EP The Times You Cross My Mind is released July 21 via Midsummer Records and is available to pre-order now. Listen to their new track Nothing below.
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