“We’ve all got such different tastes,” Clover said of the inspirations behind Pariah, “it’s just this melting pot of different influences.”
Clover set out to revolutionise rock with their debut album Pariah late last month. A ten-track odyssey through the sonic reaches of the genre — from the bluesy riffs of Underground to the garage-bound anthems of War — the album showcased the Adelaide band’s firm grasp of the rock spectrum, with room for introspective cuts like Alaska.
“We genuinely haven’t heard another band putting out the music we are, with the production we’ve got,” Clover rightfully declared in an interview with Happy Mag. It’s a sentiment of confidence that befits a band whose latest effort perfected the unadulterated expression of rock at its best.
Below, Clover founders Archie Lowdon, Brad Caught and Molly Littlefair, and frontwoman Holly Hastings, list the must-listen songs that inspired Pariah, from the timeless staples of Foo Fighters to the blues of rock trio Reignwolf.
See Clover’s full playlist of influences below, and head here to listen to their new debut album Pariah.
A big part of what defines Clover’s sound is the way we collaborate when we songwrite. We’ve all got such different tastes in music, that when we get in the band room it’s just this melting pot of different influences and different ideas.
It’s the main reason you can’t pin our sound down to something specific. We’ve each got a ‘must listen to’ song that defines our songwriting, a song that sums up our thought processes when we were working on Pariah.
My Hero — Foo Fighters
Molly: For me, ‘My Hero,’ by the Foo Fighters sums up basically my entire approach to songwriting. The drums, written by Dave Grohl, are just so distinct you know what song it is without even hearing the riff or the melody.
I wanted that for my drum parts on ‘Pariah.’ Every time we wrote a song, I’d be asking myself ‘is this drum part as recognisable as ‘My Hero?’
I have to say, most of the time I fell short, but I think by keeping that idea in the back of my head it really helped me write ten distinct drum riffs for the album.
Are You Satisfied? — Reignwolf
Archie: ‘Are You Satisfied?’ by Reignwolf really inspired me through its bass heavy riff mixed with the treble-y solo lines.
The song just has these bluesy ‘go for it,’ solos throughout it, and I wanted that energy in the guitar on ‘Pariah.’‘Are You Satisfied,’ is based on this really gritty riff, but it’s got a sort of contrast in the pentatonic lead stuff playing around the main hook.
That’s the core of ‘Pariah,’ it’s how I approached every riff and solo going into the album. The drop D tuning Reignwolf uses on the track as well, that inspired me to start messing around with my tuning.
It’s just a bit heavier than standard, and it gave a bit of spice to a few tracks on ‘Pariah.’ It opened the door for us to start messing around with some new ideas.
Would? — Alice In Chains
Brad: ‘Would?’ by Alice In Chains has probably had some of the biggest influence on my bass playing over ‘Pariah.’ My whole approach to the bass is to treat it like a rhythm guitar.
Because we don’t have that extra rhythm piece in Clover, my goal is to fill out that bottom end as much as possible. ‘Would?’ has a really riffy, rhythmic bassline that doesn’t follow the guitar.
It creates counter melody, and walks the line between riff and rhythm section. I took that idea into all our tracks on ‘Pariah,’ so nothing feels like it’s lacking in our music. It keeps our sound fat and just adds some extra spice on the bass that people can listen in for.
Rest In Peace — Dorothy
Holly: ‘Rest In Peace’ by Dorothy had a huge part to play in the vocals I wrote for ‘Pariah.’ I was super inspired by the big, upfront melody and the raspy tones Dorothy gets out of her voice on the track.
I loved the big vocal lines matching the guitar and the way the two parts worked together. I took this into ‘Pariah,’ matching my melodies to the guitar riffs where I could, to really fill out the top end of our songs.
‘Rest In Peace,’ has the perfect blend of soulful and intense vocal lines, and the impact of that blend really drew me in.
I tried to create those moments in ‘Pariah,’ with the lower, soulful lines in songs like ‘Outta Your Hands’, contrasted with the soaring, intense chorus in something like ‘War’.
So there you have it! These are our must listen to tracks, and why we think listening to them will help you understand Clover as songwriters even better!
