From Blink-182 to Pink Floyd, these five records helped shape LOSER’s sound.
Melbourne rockers LOSER have just announced their sophomore LP, All The Rage, set to drop on September 10 via Domestic La La.
Self-recorded at their freshly launched recording studio Restless Noise Studio, the record is a hearty, nostalgic nod to noughties alt-rock. Channelling the hard and fast, deliciously addictive hits of bands like Green Day and Blink-182, All The Rage is a powerful rock album with a distinct LOSER twist.
To celebrate the forthcoming album, we caught up with the band’s singer and shredder Tim Maxwell to hear about his sonic influences and the albums he wishes he wrote.
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Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
This has got to be my favourite album ever written, there are so many reasons this record is special to me. From an early age I remember my mum playing me this record whilst we were rocking in a hammock together.
The moment I heard the opening guitar solo of ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ my eyes just lit up instantly. I had never heard anything like it before. That’s only the start of the album and it is pretty much a guitar solo for 13 minutes (what more could I ask for as a clueless child).
As if that song isn’t special enough to me, then comes the title track ‘Wish You Were Here’. This song has been with me throughout my whole life, I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve gathered around with friends and family and sang this track to death. When I was just starting to play guitar I recall a memory of being in Port Douglas and my mum hassling me to get up with a covers guy at the pub, that night I played the song. It is as timeless as the rest of the album.
The record takes you everywhere and shows that there really are no boundaries when it comes to songwriting, if you want to write a 13 minute solo and put it at the start of the album then why the hell not? This record influences me constantly to write better music, especially for guitar solos. Nobody has better feel than David Gilmour and I try emulate a lot of this taste on the solos on All The Rage (check out ‘Meant To Be’).
I wish I wrote this record because it’s a timeless fucking masterpiece that will never leave my life.
American Idiot by Green Day
This record holds a huge place in my heart, it was the first proper punk rock album I had heard that grabbed me. At the time I had some older Green Day records, but this one spoke to me more than anything. I felt rebellious listening to it and it made me wanna be a punk.
I would spend hours and hours with the tab book power chording my way through life and it made me a more solid rhythm player. I remember saying to my guitar teacher, “I don’t ever wanna play lead I just want to play power chords and octaves”.
The album is made to be listened as a whole. A punk rock opera, as they say. From the incredible singles to the faster deep cuts, there is something for everyone on this record.
To this day I put this record on and still discover new things, I now obsess over the incredible mix from Chris Lord Alge and realise why it grabbed me in the first place. All The Rage is full of power chords, I wonder why!
Time Is Golden by Big Smoke
This is a surprising one to be in the list seeing how recently it was released, but god damn, what an absolute cracker of a an album it is. I first heard this record sitting in the back of an RV in San Francisco while travelling with my best friends, Grim Rhythm.
I was lying on the bed and listened to it in earphones and literally came to tears throughout most of the album, this was the first time I had been on the other side of the world for a month and it hit me hard. I then rushed to the front of the RV to show the guys and we have been listening to it non stop since.
Big Smoke are from my hometown, Melbourne, and sadly the singer passed away before the record was even mixed, which adds an incredible amount of depth and emotion to the lyricism. From start to finish, there isn’t a bad song but the highlight would definitely be ‘Best Of You’, this song takes you on a ride and is, in my opinion, one of the best songs to come out of Australia. If you haven’t listened to this record yet, then you truly are missing out.
Odyssey Number Five by Powderfinger
This is another record my parents showed me. I remember grabbing the CD out of the cupboard and thrashing it relentlessly as a kid. Apart from all the amazing singles on it, I really appreciate the album on a whole other level. T
he way this album flows is amazing, the production is all time and it’s Powderfinger’s best release, in my opinion. An assistant engineer on this record, Anton Hagop, actually mixed our new record All The Rage, which is even cooler.
I was really inspired by this record, particularly when writing the last track on All The Rage, ‘Meant To Be’. I wanted to make a dreary ballad with sparkling acoustics holding the song together.
I always loved how much energy ‘My Happiness’ has and it’s mostly acoustics glueing it all together or adding a particular vibe that suits. I love Bernard Fanning’s melodies and I wish wrote this album because it has it all.
Blink-182 by Blink-182
Hands down, this is the best Blink album. From the variety in songs to the all-star mixing and production personnel, this album is something special that doesn’t come around very often.
I remember hearing ‘Feeling This’ on Rage for the first time and it changed it my life. I already knew about Green Day but then, as a young kid, to find there was a similar band yet they make dick and fart jokes, too. Sign me up!
I remember listening to this album with my brother Will and we would find the timestamps where the band would swear and be in awe of it. Unlike the earlier albums, this one is a lot more mature and really shows their songwriting chops on another level. Our track ‘All I Need’ was heavily inspired by Blink and any single note riff in All The Rage is a homage to this album. I wish I wrote this because it’s a record you can put on now and it hasn’t aged badly.
All The Rage is out on Friday September 10 via Domestic La La. Pre-order a copy here.
