The Walkmen‘s frontman Hamilton Leithauser on his earliest musical gurus: “I’ll defend Jim Morrison to the loss of life!”

MICHAEL JACKSON
Thriller
EPIC, 1982
The primary file I ever purchased was . I listened to it greater than anything from the ages of six to 10 – I do know each single word and each single phrase of the file, nonetheless. Sadly, Michael Jackson was a toddler molester. That tainted all the pieces he’s achieved, in my thoughts. The day after I noticed that documentary I used to be in Dwelling Depot and so they had been enjoying “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”. I used to be like, ‘Oh my God, any person’s gotta flip this off!’ However I nonetheless maintain up “Billie Jean” as one of many best recordings ever made. The sound and the manufacturing is simply excellent. It’s rather a lot simpler to hate on .

EAZY-E
Eazy-Duz-It
RUTHLESS/PRIORITY, 1988
Once I was youthful, rap music hit me so laborious. The blokes had been saying such horrible shit that we’d conceal the cassettes underneath our beds, it was like having like porn in the home. And the one that basically kicked it off for me was Eazy-E’s first solo file. I performed that cassette to loss of life – solely the primary facet, the second facet sucks. However that triggered all of my rap curiosity for the following twenty years. shouldn’t be an important file, nevertheless it does have some actually good hooks on it, and he’s fairly humorous. He’s simply acquired a nasty little voice that can persist with me for the remainder of my life.

THE ROLLING STONES
England’s Latest Hit Makers
LONDON, 1964
My dad had a duplicate of the primary Rolling Stones file. It was the file that in England was referred to as , I believe it’s one monitor totally different. He had the vinyl, and I suppose he had a cassette too, as a result of I didn’t have a file participant in my room. I had just a little cassette participant and I might put that on repeat. I used to be younger sufficient to recollect enjoying with my GI Joe motion figures and listening to time and again. That kicked off my lifelong love of The Rolling Stones. I believed Mick Jagger was so cool. I believed they’d written all these songs, I had no concept that they had been all covers.

THE DOORS
Morrison Resort
ELEKTRA, 1970
In eighth grade I found The Doorways, most likely after listening to “Gentle My Hearth”. I wished to listen to extra about them and someway I ended up with , which is certainly not their finest file, nevertheless it’s the one which I had. I simply fell in love with Jim Morrison: he’s so rebellious, and all his cringey poetry was such a deal with for me at age 12 or no matter. My dad would snort at me, however I nonetheless love Jimbo to today, I’ll defend him to the loss of life. Morrison Resort has good songs like “Indian Summer season” however “Maggie M’Gill” makes me snort out loud. I’m not laughing at Jim Morrison, I’m laughing with him. It’s hilarious, it will get me going.

JANE’S ADDICTION
Ritual De Lo Ordinary
WARNER BROS, 1990
Once I felt myself maturing from The Doorways, I found Jane’s Dependancy. I appreciated the hits, clearly, like “Been Caught Stealing”. However I might additionally sit there and hearken to the whole lot of “Three Days” and “Then She Did…” It was so mysterious and harmful and peculiar to me. I’d by no means been to California and I didn’t know something about it. I all the time thought Perry Farrell was a charismatic frontman. I by no means appreciated metallic after I was youthful, however I appreciated that heavy distortion that he used generally. It was the primary time I felt like I used to be changing into like a tastemaker, which is so silly. However that’s what I believed.

BAD BRAINS
Unhealthy Brains
ROIR, 1982
I grew up in Washington DC however I used to be too younger to be part of the actually superior hardcore scene that was occurring after I was a child. As I acquired just a little bit older, I observed all these posters being round – ‘Unhealthy Brains’ was graffitied on the bridge proper by my home. However I wasn’t very inquisitive about them after I was youthful. It was so laborious, it simply seemed like noise. After which the change flipped in the future and I realised that these guys had created this factor that no one had ever created earlier than, and had been a few of the finest gamers of all-time. I by no means noticed them play, nevertheless it was enjoyable to know that they had been from proper down the road.

FUGAZI
Repeater
DISCHORD, 1990
Fugazi had been at their pinnacle after I found them. That they had this rule the place they’d solely play all-ages exhibits, and it might solely price $5 to get in. So I discovered myself going to a whole lot of Fugazi exhibits and actually moving into them – it’s good to have that hometown hero form of feeling. Truly, the man who recorded all of the information is a really outdated buddy of my dad. Fugazi had been straight-edge and clean-living, form of the other of Jane’s Dependancy. My buddies and I didn’t fully get the message as a result of we’d normally present up with 40 ounce bottles of malt liquor and get trashed.

THE POGUES
Rum, Sodomy & The Lash
STIFF/MCA, 1985
I used to be most likely on the finish of highschool after I found this. It was very robust and hard-hitting, however they had been utilizing mandolins and acoustic guitars, and Shane MacGowan’s phrases had been loopy – he was such a wild man. Once we began The Walkmen, I keep in mind there was a second once we had been warming up and doing a giant rumble sound. We realised it was form of like a Pogues rumble, and that turned one in every of our signatures. We had by no means actually mentioned it, however all of us independently beloved The Pogues. I really feel like that was an enormous second for us, realising how impressed we had been by them.