Throwback of the week (23rd August)

Before Spotify playlists, there was the art of compilation album. An album that
contains lots of different songs from lots of different artists. Growing up these
albums influenced my music taste heavily, with the 2006 edition of ‘NME’s
Essential Bands’ compilations leaving a huge, lasting impact. 

NME’s Essential Bands

Still to this day, I adore the 00’s indie landfill scene. Listening to old bands that
featured on the album, such as Boy Kill Boy and The Ordinary Boys, gives me so
much serotonin. The whole album is a huge nostalgia trip back to that crazy
music scene in the mid 2000s, which is why I’ve chosen it as this week’s
throwback of the week.

It features some of the most iconic indie bangers from that era, such as ‘Chelsea
Dagger’ by The Fratellis, ‘When You Were Young’ by The Killers and an incredible
live version of ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ by Arctic Monkeys (which unfortunately
wasn’t included on the digital version), as well as some tracks that have faded
into obscurity over time, such as ‘Trains To Brazil’ by Guillemots, ‘Elusive’ by Scott
Matthews and ‘Accident & Emergency’ by Patrick Wolf.

For me the standout track on the album will always be ‘Monster’ by The
Automatic. It’s the first song I properly remember listening to and as a kid, I
listened to it over and over and begged my parents to play it in the car if we
were driving somewhere. I can imagine it probably did their heads in after a
while. The band aren’t together anymore, but recently created an instagram
page where they post old throwback photos of the band, which might be a sign
that a reunion could be on the cards. Other than that one song that everyone
knows and loves, The Automatic have an amazing back catalogue, and the
album that ‘Monster’ features on, ‘Not Accepted Anywhere’, which includes
underrated hits such as ‘Raoul’ and ‘That’s What She Said’, is definitely worth a
listen.

Words by: Cerys Hubbard