Based in NYC, Bangladeafy is the duo of Jon Ehlers and Atif Haq. They got their start more than a decade ago, bashing out relentless prog-punk on bass guitar and drums… VICE/Noisey described their early work as “Lightning Bolt and The Melvins eating big, greedy spoonfuls of each other’s candy-colored vomit”.
Their new album new album Vulture is released today on Nefarious Industries, so we asked Jon about 3 albums that have influenced their music a lot. Jon says “Please let me preface by saying that The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails has and always will be what got me into music and I’ve discussed it at length in many interviews. I’ve decided to focus my attention on other albums of importance to me for this interview.”
Zach Hill – Face Tat
This album wears like a white t-shirt stained with Nickelodeon slime. It’s defined by Zach Hill’s signature drumming, but contained in a way that showcases his ability to beautifully compose feel good music. There’s a fun juxtaposition on this album that is different than what he’s done with Hella and Death Grips, in that there’s a surprising amount of tameness. The tonal choices of the instruments are ambiguously electronic, my favorite detail when it comes to a sound as it lends itself towards timelessness.
The Prodigy – Fat of the Land
I owned this on cassette and first heard it all the way through while I had a fever at 12 years old. To this day, I’m still not sure if the impact it had on me was some fever induced Stockholm Syndrome. Liam Howlett has a talent in taking outdated synth tones and dropping them into a modernized format, manifesting an angry creature with old radio tubes for horns. Although Fat of the Land might feel a bit dated today, it was ahead of the curve in terms of sampling as a songwriting process. Synthpunk, big beat, electronica, whatever you wanna call it, The Prodigy will always be a true rock band to me.
Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come
If you wanted to hear or see something other than whatever was getting heavy TV rotation in the 90’s, you had to tune in late at night. This is exactly how I discovered Refused. The video for the song ‘New Noise’, had it all: slick cinematography, cool costumes, modular synths, brutal guitars, and a vocal style that cut right through my soul. At this time, I was already briefly into hardcore punk and had moved onto other things. This album was a breath of fresh air for the post-punk canon. Not much has matched it in the time since it was released. The whole album flows like a manifesto written by an angry poet who is bent on defeating capitalism with the power of riffs and memorable sing alongs. This format, a concept album I guess some would call it, was hard to find at this time, ultimately solidifying the album’s importance to me. Vocally, Dennis Lyxzén, might likely be my biggest influence. I’ve always used his pitch and belting as a reference point for things I was trying to do.
