#99...

Talking Heads - Fear of Music

Equal parts influence and influential, Talking Heads for me manage to throw out many clear lines of 'that sounds like...' for fun. David Byrne's voice itself acts as an additional instrument for many of the songs, from his dulcet tones on the start of "Memories Can't Wait" to his shouty shouty phase on "Animals", adding to the layers and layers of staccato guitar in most, if not every, track. 

Off-rhythm guitaring, a cheeky bit of synth here and there, and the overall experimental sound of the record show how and why bands like Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Modest Mouse cropped up out of the ether. 

"Air" and "Electric Guitar" are tracks that wouldn't go amiss in the "Classics" room of the old Birmingham faithful, Snobs, on a Wednesday - boys in jeans too tight and polos too done up dancing like their fathers - with "Heaven" as a drunken sway-about song that the rather hirsute DJ would probably play before "She's Lost Control" at 2.45am.

Key Tracks: "Paper"; "Memories Can't Wait"; "Air"; "Animals"

This Ain't No Party, This Ain't No Disco: We thank Byrne's lyrics himself for this line, from "Life During Wartime"; fittingly ironic for a post-punk band to have this line on an album where they were actively hoping to whip out their disco. But probably less Graeme Swann's 'Sprinkler', more Ian Curtis' 'Fit' dancing.