Tokyo-hailing BLOOD PICK ME fuse the heightened volume and dense noise of shoegaze with the accessibility of modern pop. So far the project has spanned a range of noisy rock and pop genres over more than a dozen (mostly single and EP) releases. As the group works on new music, BLOOD PICK ME’s vocalist and guitarist P lays out some of the songs that are influencing them the most right now.

 

Sonic Youth – “Kool Thing” (1990)

Sonic Youth are one of our essential influences. Everything about “Kool Thing” is free and avant-garde, from the guitar phrases and song development to the mid-part of the song with Kim Gordon and Public Enemy’s Chuck D. They showed us that there are no rules in music.

 

Boredoms – “Super Go!!!!!” (1998)

There is a heat in this song that goes far beyond people's imagination, especially in the chaos of the second half, which stirs up the urge to destroy. This is music that includes bare emotions and crazy playing makes people’s hearts tremble unconditionally, and we love it.

 

The Stone Roses – “One Love” (1989)

It's a great song, but it also just has a nice supple groove. In our new music, there are songs that I created with the intention of incorporating this song’s grooved feeling.

 

Foals – “Inhaler” (2013)

With its good blend of heaviness and dance grooves, this song is close to the ideal style of songs we’re looking for. We specialise in heavier music, though some of our songs incorporate elements of dance music. The next album will have songs that are more danceable than before – I think “Inhaler” has had a good influence.

 

Mitski – “Geyser” (2018)

I like the way the song develops from quiet to powerful, with a clear sound balance and spectacular soundscapes. Mitski's songs have a heartbreakingly strong message and I respect her a lot as a vocalist.

 

Nirvana – “Sliver” (1992)

The song is straight, muddy rock music typical of Nirvana and embodies the band's greatness. While working on our next album, we wrote a certain new song because we admired this straightforward band sound. I think “Sliver” brought out a new side of us.

Note: as of May 11 2023, The Glow ceased trading as a limited company. The site is now a blog run by Ed Cunningham.