Drain California Cursed

Drain made us an isolation playlist ++ debut LP out next week

With the coronavirus outbreak causing many people to stay at home as much as possible, we’ve been asking musicians what music they’re listening to in isolation, and this one comes from three members of Santa Cruz hardcore up and comers Drain, whose anticipated debut album California Cursed drops next week (4/10) via Revelation.

The playlist comes from Tim, Cody, and Sam, and their picks include Pavement, Peter Gabriel, Ceremony, Living Colour, Rush, Cro-Mags, and more, and they wrote personable commentary for each song. Read on for their list…

WHAT TIM IS LISTENING TO

1. Pavement – “Here”

Despite hearing this for the first time on their best-of record called Quarantine the Past, this has always been one of my favorite Pavement tracks. It’s been raining a bunch, so this is a good one to throw on and zone out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFdJjHbaRk

2. Peter Gabriel – “Red Rain”

This song has been stuck in my head since I first heard it. Super catchy. Weirdly apocalyptic. Seems fitting.

3. Grip Inc. – “Hostage to Heaven”

First heard this song in a surf movie way back when. Don’t know much about this band other than that Dave Lombardo played drums. And he goes off. Especially on this track.

WHAT CODY IS LISTENING TO

4. Ceremony – “Bite Down”

It’s always hard for me to pick a Ceremony song, since they have always been one of my favorite hardcore bands. I can remember being mad at the world at eighteen years old, and the Violence Violence album was the soundtrack to my frustration and late teenage angst. I picked this song because it’s fast, pissed off, and to the point. At that age, I really resonated with the opening line “Biting down on my lip, making sure I feel the pain.” Just in that first line of lyrics, you can really feel the emotion that Ross was trying to convey. Ceremony, musically and as people, have done so much for hardcore, as well as just pushing the boundaries in music in general. And they still remain one of my favorites to this day.

5. Living Colour – “Glamour Boys”

I’m a huge fan of Living Colour! Such talented musicians that had a lot to say on their records! This song always stood out to me. I like it, not only for its catchiness and funky riffs, but the message behind it. It’s basically about rich dudes that flaunt their wealth and act extremely arrogant. The music video is hilarious as well, because it makes fun of the rich people by showing two dudes in nice suits and Ken doll masks. Hard to pick just one LC song, since their catalog is filled with bangers! I could talk about Living Colour for hours, and the vocalist Corey Glover shines on this song.

6. George Strait – “Amarillo by Morning”

I love this song a whole lot. I hated it as a kid, but grew to love it as I got older and paid attention to the meaning of the song. George Strait is such a fantastic storyteller, and the way he puts together words without being too complicated is something I am envious of. This song speaks to me because it’s about being content with what you have, as well as being open-minded and positive, even if you might be broke, hungry, or going through a hard time. One of my favorite lines goes, “I ain’t got a dime, but what I got is mine. I ain’t rich, but lord I’m free.” This song and just George in general make it into my daily playlists all the time!

WHAT SAM IS LISTENING TO

7. Rush – “La Villa Strangiato”

With the recent passing of Neil Peart, I started revisiting Rush and fell back in love with this song. The little hi-hat groove at the beginning of this song is something that I really pushed myself to learn when I first started playing drums. As I got older and was living in Santa Cruz, I have so many fond memories of walking home at night and looking at the stars and soaking in all the sounds.

8. Pangea – “Blood, Blood, Blood”

Together Pangea is one of my favorite bands and with all of this time that I’ve been spending at home, I’ve been revisiting their demo which I can only find on Youtube. This song sums up everything that I love about this band’s sound, its raw, upbeat, and really catchy.

9. Cro-Mags – “Kuruksetra”

For whatever reason, I’ve only really explored Age of Quarrel and have only known those songs since I started listening to Cro-Mags. The riffing on this record is insane though! It really reminds me of a lot of the thrash metal bands that I had initially started listening to when I got into heavy music, like Testament and Forbidden. The vocals are huge as well, and I feel like I want to be curling 50lb dumbells when I listen to this.

And here’s a full-set video of Drain at Sound and Fury last year:

And two songs from the upcoming LP: