Guest Playlist: Wollongong rockers The Vanns talk us through the tracks that inspired debut album Through The Walls

On October 25th, The Vanns will drop their debut album, Through The Walls. The guys were keen to share the tracks that helped bring the much anticipated release to life, so we invited frontman Jimmy Vann to curate a guest playlist for you all!

But before we get to all that juicy stuff (including a handy Spotify playlist at the end!), give The Vanns’ latest, “Deranged“, a spin below, and get yourself pumped for Through The Walls!

“Myenemy” by Parcels

This song was a “let your hair down” after a long day in the studio kind of thing. We were staying down in Melbourne in this little apartment for two weeks and would just blast Parcels live Eurockennees festival set well into the night. “Myenemy” is the opener for the gig and this song and that whole set inspired so much of our album and us as a band.

“We Find Love”by Daniel Caesar

I guess I’ve always been a sucker for a brutally honest slow love song. I was trying to navigate through feelings of a past relationship with no intention to write about it, but once I heard this song it immediately gave my situation so much transparency for moving on. The veracity in “We Find Love” and the whole experience of hearing it heavily influenced a song on the album called “Chelsea”.

“Even Flow” by Pearl Jam

It’s a bit of a running joke in the band as to when I will belt out my daily “Even Flow” at the top of my lungs. It all started when I’d be warming up to lay down vocals on the album. I knew if I could sing the whole chorus to this song I was ready to smash out some vocals. Plus it’s got to be one of my favourite songs of all time, I bloody love Pearl Jam.

“My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” by Neil Young

This song was heavily on repeat whilst the writing and recording the album. The first song that was written for the album was a track called “Jules Said’. Cam and myself wrote and recorded a demo of it within an hour. It was so raw and real and I have always seen it as our “My My, Hey Hey”. Guitar, vocals and telling a story.

“Dentro da Música” by Natiruts

This track was my walking to and from the studio song. Whenever I hear it now it brings back the most detailed memories of that point in my life. I have no understanding of the lyrics as the song is in Portuguese but I think that’s why I loved it so much, for me every listen was open for a new interpretation as it never told the same story and it made me feel fucking amazing.

“Strangest Thing” by The War On Drugs

The album that this track is from has got to be one of the greatest bodies of music I’ve ever heard (A Deeper Understanding). It takes you on such a journey through many different emotions, and this track just captures so many interesting musical elements that involve a lot of space in the song. As a band we’ve always wanted to give some of our tracks more space and breathing room and this is a beautiful example of how it can be done so incredibly well.

“Tell Me Something Good” by Rufus & Chaka Khan

You know a song means a lot to you when you dedicate a whole verse to being a fan of Chaka Khan and naming the track “Chaka Fan” and wearing a t-shirt with her face on it. It’s got to be one of my favourites on our album. I don’t think there was a day for at least two solid months where we wouldn’t listen to this song. It was so engrained in our heads it essentially primed us to write about it in some way within our record. The lyrics describe living in that moment of this song when writing the album: “Tell Me Something Good’s up loud / I can sing it word for word / I’m the biggest Chaka Fan now / got the shirt…

“True Lovers” by Holy Holy

When I first heard this song it blew my mind, I was an instant fan. Not only did the song have a big impact on me, it was Oscar Dawson, writer behind “True Lovers” and our producer who was such an inspirational musician and dude in the whole process of creating our record.

“Gimme All Your Love” by Alabama Shakes

I’ve always been in awe of the Alabama Shakes’ lead singer’s voice. The way she uses her voice so delicately then insanely powerful is amazing. This song would always motivate me to explore my own vocals a bit more and try implement some new found ways of singing into the record.

“Love is All” by The Tallest Man On Earth

His songs have always resonated with me, they’re so descriptive and interesting. His lyricism has been so inspiring ever since I first heard the album The Wild Hunt which this song is off. I’ll always refer to this song and this album as a perfect example of beautiful organic sounding acoustic guitar.

The Vanns’ debut album Through The Walls drops on October 25th. Preorder it here.

You can catch the guys live straight after, with tour dates around Australia kicking off from the 26th:

  • Saturday 26th October:The Zoo, Brisbane (Hidden Lanes Festival, Free Event)
  • Saturday 26th October:Gold Coast 600, Gold Coast (Tickets)
  • Saturday 2nd November: Stay Gold, Melbourne (U18s, Tickets)
  • Saturday 2nd November: Stay Gold, Melbourne (18+,Tickets)
  • Saturday 9th November: Djerriwarrh Festival, Melton (Tickets)
  • Thursday 14th November: Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide (18+, Tickets)
  • Friday 15th November: Mojo’s, Perth (U18s permitted with guardian, Tickets)
  • Saturday 16th November:The Sewing Room, Fremantle (18+, Tickets)
  • Saturday 7th December: The Metro, Sydney (All ages, Tickets)

In the meantime, you can stay up to date with all things The Vanns via their websiteFacebookInstagram, and Twitter.

Jodie Sloan

Living, writing, and reading in Brisbane/Meanjin. Likes spooky books, strong cocktails, and pro-wrestling.