The God Machine – Scenes From The Second Storey
After swearing to be a metaller for life, I remember hearing the Pixies' 'Monkey Gone To Heaven'. I got the 12" for 50p, I only bought it because it was cheap. I remember thinking, "What is this unlistenable shite?" I'd been listening to all these pristinely produced American rock and metal records. So when I heard the Pixies, I just thought, "Yeuch." But then, about a month after that, I heard it again. I closed the door on heavy metal and moved away to indie.

My friend Ewan gave me the first God Machine 12" and it blew me away. I'd never heard anything like it before. Obviously it's everywhere now, but at the time I'd never heard that mix of delicate acoustic guitars and strings, and the powerful impact of a loud wall of noise. And again, the delivery was not happy. But there was a comfort that I still find in Robin [Proper-Sheppard]'s voice. Some people get it, some people don't. I really loved 'Purity' and a song called 'The Blind Man' on this album. That's a good example of those slow starts that build up and then smash you over the head with a guitar.