Leeds, UK’s English Teacher took their time making their debut album, This Could Be Texas, and the result almost sound like their third instead of their first, with maturity and thoughtfulness in the songwriting while still keeping a youthful exuberance. The band get called post-punk a lot, and while there’s some of that for sure in these songs, there’s also a lot more. Listen to the album below.
For more the album, all four members of the band — singer/keyboardist Lily Fontaine, guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost, and bassist Nicholas Eden — put together a list of 10 songs that influenced This Could Be Texas, citing specific examples of just how they fit in. Via different members we learn that one song on the album owes both to King Crimson and Life Without Buildings, as well as Lana Del Ray, The Velvet Underground, Radiohead and more. Read their list and commentary below.
ENGLISH TEACHER – 10 SONGS THAT INFLUENCED ‘THIS COULD BE TEXAS’
Douglas:
“A&W” by Lana Del Rey
Bizarrely no one in the band had heard “A&W” until Marta Salogni (Producer) played it to us amidst a period of mental roadblock while recording. Until this point “The Best Tears of Your Life” was still just a very frustrating sketch, but when Marta suggested we listen to “A&W” and follow the way it was broken up and the way it builds then maybe we could get a clearer sense of where we wanted the song to go. And that’s what happened, although the two songs aren’t easily comparable now, using “A&W” as a springboard really did get us out of the mud. Thank you Lana.
“True Love Waits” by Radiohead
While we were in the middle of writing I found myself in a Radiohead shaped hole and would spend a fair bit of time learning their songs on piano, “True Love Waits” being one of them. So I guess this may have crudely influenced the piano parts on songs like “Mastermind Specialism” and “This Could Be Texas.”
“Afterwards” by Oh Pep!
Stadium Cake is one of my all time favourite albums and I will never get over the fact that Oh Pep! have taken it off streaming platforms. These songs are so simply beautiful and would often act as a little escape for me whilst we were writing and recording. I love how jarring the violin lines can be, creeping in out of nowhere. It’s that contrast, with the odd subtle time change that often resonates in our own songs.
Lewis:
“Heroin” by The Velvet Underground
I found myself revisiting classic albums often during the writing and recording of “This Could Be Texas” and this one was in heavy rotation. The string drone throughout, the two chords going back and forth. The way the intensity builds relentlessly. It’s such a beautiful mess of noise and the song “Albert Road” wishes it was.
“Five Years” by David Bowie
One of my favourite songs of all time, another album I kept going back to. It’s just so dramatic and ambitious, I think some of the more maximalist chaotic parts of the album owe a lot to this. Will never not wanna shout the words to this song.
Lily:
“Rattlesnake” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
“The World’s Biggest Paving Slab” was written just after the peak of my garage-psych era in 2018. I think you can hear that influence of the microtonal guitar riff and the repetitive one-note bass-line of “Rattlesnake,” in the track.
“The Leanover” by Life Without Buildings
I see the vocal as more of a sampler or percussive instrument; it’s not about sentences but about the right word or sound at the right time to create something engaging and catchy while still entirely unique. Discovering this approach was a big influence on the chorus of “Nearly Daffodils.”
“Evidently Chickentown” by John Cooper Clarke
Like “Chickentown,” the lyrics for Broken Biscuits began as a poem. The relentless repetition in Clarke’s piece was a direct reference point for this song, and maybe “I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying” as well subconsciously. I wanted to see how many ways I could employ the word broken in one song. Poems like his “Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt” use absurdism in my favourite way, but Clarke is also adept at using simplicity and directness, and I think that’s hard to do well.
Nick:
“Frame By Frame” by King Crimson
Robert Fripp’s guitar parts make me rewind nearly every time I listen to this track. The middle section of “Nearly Daffodils” is heavily inspired by the end section of “Frame by Frame.” Belew and Fripp’s ⅞ guitars interweaving (somehow), finding each other and completing with a flurry of notes from a 3rd guitar at the very end. Yummy.
“So Far Away” by Carole King
I love the tonal harmony of a thumping bass guitar and piano playing together. Both instruments so up front in a mix will never become tiresome to me. They outline the chords and mood of whatever song so elegantly and classically. The bass playing on this track is perfect to me. The breathing space between the higher register notes in the verses then the run of 16th notes landing on the next chord so seamlessly is immensely satisfying. One of my favourite bass recordings ever. It’s what I wanted to sound like on “You Blister My Paint.”
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English Teacher will be in the US in June, including a NYC show at Bowery Ballroom on 6/10. All dates:
English Teacher – 2024 Tour Dates
Wed. May 8 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Thu. May 9 – Portsmouth, UK @ Wedgewood Rooms
Fri. May 10 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
Sat. May 11 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb lfor Bach
Mon. May 13 – Oxford, UK @ The Bullingdon
Wed. May 15 – Sheffield, UK @ The Foundry
Thu. May 16 – Leeds, UK @ Irish Centre
Fri. May 17 – Edinburgh, UK @ Mash House
Sat. May 18 – Glasgow, UK @ King Tuts
Tue. May 21 – Belfast, UK @ Ulster Sports Club
Wed. May 22 – Dublin, UK @ Whelan’s
Fri. May 24 – Manchester, UK @ Gorilla
Sat. May 25 – Birmingham, UK @ Castle and Falcon
Tue. May 28 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
Wed. May 29 – London, UK @ Electric Brixton
Sun. June 9 – Washington, DC @ The Atlantis
Mon. June 10 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Wed. June 12 – Boston, MA @ Sonia
Fri. June 14 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry
Sun. June 16 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern