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Silicon Valley and the large tech corporations that originated from it not only inspired the themes of this album and the technology-sceptical themes present in multiple tracks on TFS''s debut album, but it also inspired the actual title of the album. "Meatspace" is what silicon valley engineers over the years have derogatively used when referring to the physical world, as opposed to the digital world. According to the band's guitarist, Erica Dunn, they thought it was a "fun and terrifying concept for a writer to think about, in terms of human existence being referred to as a meatspace... A laughing death is a reference to what happens to you when you get mad cow disease actually... It’s kind of another dark observation about humanity and the state of the world" (Cicero, C., 2018).

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Garry Kasparov vs Deep Blue (Chess Match)

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Garry Kasparov vs Deep Blue (Chess Match)

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While not a musical influence, the chess match between Garry Kasparov and the artificial intelligence known as Deep Blue serves as the inspiration for track 4 on the album, The Future of History. The song delves into the topic of AI and particularly the story of Garry Kasparov, albeit in an overdramatised fashion. The lyrics pose questions about the dangers of machines and the automation of processes leaving people without jobs, stating "you’ll recall they said the same thing about farming too", implying that if farming can be automated, then what's to stop every other job from being taken by machines as well. This use of such specific historical events to convey this warning message of a song is really interesting and serves to elevate the album for me personally.

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Hard to determine whether the Drones are considered an influence on TFS or more so a precursor to the band, but regardless the music of the drones and the creative direction of the band no doubt influenced A Laughing Death in Meatspace. With TFS members Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin both being integral members of the Drones, maybe it's a given that there would be a influence from one to the other. But I think what I find to be interesting is the way the Drones music evolved towards the end of their discography and how you can hear the transition into the much more electronic influenced sound of Meatspace. Songs like Taman Shud from the Drones last album Feelin' Kinda Free (Liddiard, G., 2016) very much resembles the sound and political themes in Tropical Fuck Storm's first album.

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Lennon, J. (1970). The Rolling Stone Interview: JOHN LENNON, Part One: The Working Class Hero. Rolling Stone.

Lennon, J. (1970). John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Apple Records.

Malkmus, S. (1991). Slanted and Enchanted. Matador Records.

Smith, M.E. (1980). Grotesque. Rough Trade Records.

Liddiard, G. (2016) Feelin' Kinda Free. Tropical Fuck Storm Records

Badman, K. (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001. London: Omnibus Press.

Whatley, J. (2021). From Chuck Berry to Bob Dylan: John Lennon's 8 favourite musicians. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/john-lennon-beatles-favourite-musician-dylan-bowie-clapton-playlist/

Harry, B. (2000). The Beatles Encyclopaedia. Virgin Books.

Taysom, J. (2021). From The Velvet Underground to Jimi Hendrix: Stephen Malkmus' favourite records. Far Out Magazine. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/stephen-malkmus-favourite-record-hendrix-velvet-underground/

Cicero, C. (2018). Tropical F#ck Storm on their debut A Laughing Death in Meatspace. Forte Magazine. https://fortemag.com.au/tropical-fck-storm-on-their-debut-a-laughing-death-in-meatspace/

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John Lennon absolutely idolised Elvis Presley, and has cited him as an enormous influence on multiple occasions, stating "before Elvis, there was nothing" (Harry, B., 2000). And that influence is clear when listening to John's first album. You can hear moments vocally throughout the record where John's voice almost imitates Elvis, like in Well Well Well and I Found Out where John drops to quite a low register in a very Elvis like fashion for moments. Even just the instrumental of both songs feel very classic blues rock, which Elvis helped popularise and bring to the mainstream.

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The simple and straight forward rock sound of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is very much inspired by one of Lennon's musical idols, Chuck Berry. Lennon has cited Chuck Berry as a major influence on multiple occasions, once stating "if you had to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry" (Whatley, J., 2021). The classic blues rock sound made famous by Chuck Berry can be heard all over the album, in songs like I Found Out and Well Well Well.

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Not long before John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was recorded, John was introduced to Primal Scream therapy under the guidance of Arthur Janov. Over the next few months, alongside Yoko and Arthur, John underwent primal scream therapy as a way to deal with childhood trauma, which involved screaming loudly and unrestricted as a way to release emotion. This form of therapy heavily influenced both the lyrical content of the album, but also the vocal performances (Badman, K., 2001). This is apparent in songs like Mother, where towards the end of the song, John begins to scream in a really harsh and unsettling manner similar to the primal screams he would do during his course of therapy.

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Being somewhat contemporaries, Pavement and Sonic Youth likely influenced each other throughout their musical careers. But when listening to Slanted and Enchanted, you can't ignore the influence that Sonic Youth had on Pavement at the time. Front man/singer of Pavement Stephen Malkmus has talked about Sonic Youth's influence on him multiple times, stating The experimental, lo-fi noisiness of Slanted and Enchanted is very reminiscent of early Sonic Youth, and is a big part of the charm of the album.

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The raw lo-fi aesthetic and often rambled vocal stylings of Pavement's first album are very reminiscent of some of the Velvet Underground's lesser known early work, which isn't surprising as Pavement's front man, Stephen Malkmus, has cited The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed as a very important inspiration to him and to Pavement over the years, stating in a 2021 interview “The 90s was when I became a hipster on a quest for unique stuff...‘Sister Ray’ is the ultimate song. Maybe you can’t call it a song – the ultimate noise statement of all time: there’s never been a song like that and there never will be again. It is with me always" (Taysom, J., 2021).

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The Velvet Underground and Nico Cornell University - Division of Rare Manuscript Collections

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Although Pavement's later albums deviate quite strongly from this sound, you can very much hear the strong influence that the Fall had on Slanted and Enchanted. The incoherent and fast paced ramblings of Mark E. Smith as well as the dissonant guitar and chaotic percussion present in a lot of the Fall's discography is very much heard in Pavement's 1991 album. The influence of the Fall actually goes so far to the point where claims have been made over the years that Pavement's Conduit For Sale (Malkmus, S., 1991) is a rip off of the Fall's New Face in Hell (Smith, M.E., 1980).

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Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace

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Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace

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To me this album is one of the most creative and interesting things to come from a Melbourne band in recent years. Featuring members from renowned bands within the Australian music scene like the Drones and Palm Springs, TFS only formed in 2017, with this record being released the next year. But listening to the album, you wouldn't know that they'd only been playing together for a year. The unique blend of electronic music, post punk and rock as well as the really diverse instrumentation used throughout the album is one of the main reasons this album is so influential to me. It really shows how interesting rock music can be when experimenting with different synths, obscure guitar effects and unconventional production techniques, and has definitely inspired me to try different stuff when creating music. Alongside that, the lyrical themes across the album are also super interesting and unique. Touching on quite dark apocalyptic themes, as well as social and political issues of the modern era, the lyrics of A Laughing Death in Meatspace are super interesting and dense, with lot's to unpack with each relisten.

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John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

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John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

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As much as I love the Beatles and have been hugely inspired by their music over the years, I’ve actually chosen to write about John Lennon's first proper solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,  as one of my three influences instead. Releasing in 1970 (the same year as the Beatles final album and subsequent disbanding), the album is quite a stark departure from the grand production and lyrical themes of previous Beatles records. It's a lot more stripped back and simple than their previous albums, which I find really fascinating. John stated in an interview when asked about the album "I always liked simple rock and nothing else. I was influenced by acid and got psychedelic, like the whole generation, but really, I like rock and roll and I express myself best in rock" (Lennon, J., 1970). Rather than relying on dense production and large orchestral arrangements, John intentionally left the album quite bare simple, like the classic rock that he grew up with. Both the song writing and the emotion that comes through in the performances are what make the album, there’s nothing for them to hide behind, which I find really inspiring as not many creatives (myself included) have access to the resources that the Beatles did when they were making albums like Abbey Road or Sgt Pepper’s. The lyrical content of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is also much more personal and candid than a lot of the Beatles' previous work, touching on John's childhood trauma in songs like 'Mother', and loss of faith/rejection of religion in songs like 'God' (Lennon, J., 1970).

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Pavement as have probably been the biggest influence on me creatively for years now, but their first album 'Slanted and Enchanted' in particular stands out to me. Not only is it Pavement's first album, but it's by far their rawest and most exciting. The whole record travels back and forth between melodic jangly indie rock tunes and energy filled indie punk songs filled with screams and yells from frontman and singer Stephen Malkmus. The album is also just full of little lo-fi oddities and sounds that add so much extra flavour, and the general lo-fi production of the project as a whole definitely makes it stand out from the the wave of clean high production value rock that was emerging in the early 90s. I think the use of melody in both guitar and vocals has been a huge influence on my song writing, and Malkmus' partially poetic, partially nonsensical lyrics have definitely had a sway on my writing.