2. The SmithsMeat Is Murder
Oh my god. The Smiths are huge for me, and honestly, I don’t think people realise just how much. I first heard them thanks to this girl I used to skate with as a teenager, she gave me a cassette with ‘Meat Is Murder’ on it. That’s how I discovered them, and that album in particular has always been really important to me. I still listen to it.
RIP to Andy Rourke, my favourite bassist in the world. Every bassline I’ve ever written, I’m trying to sound like Andy. I can just proudly say that out loud. And then Morrissey’s lyrics, from that six-year period especially, feel like another planet. Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce… all of them.
Like every album on this list, Meat Is Murder is a comfort album. I’ve listened to these records my whole life; some I’ve returned to as they’ve come out, others have been with me since I was a kid. That sense of continuity, of always having them around, is what makes them feel like home.
