Stereo Six: feedtherightwolf Bite into Their Most Influential Records

As a musical act, feedtherightwolf knows exactly where they stand. It’s made quite clear throughout their latest release, their brand new EP Daydreamer. This is the follow-up to their self-titled EP, released in August 2023, featuring an inspired cover of Bush’s “Everything Zen.” The song fits perfectly within the Virginia act’s musical essence. They derive a lot of inspiration from the post-grunge era and alternative rock popularized in the early 2000s. Their music explores the width and breadth of post-grunge with post-rock undertones.

Featuring tracks like “Alpha Uprising” and “Raining Glass,” feedtherightwolf’s debut EP was both heavy and accessible. They aren’t afraid to engage deeply with their musical influences and why would they? The rock of the 1990s and early 2000s was popular for a reason: because it was bloody awesome. Musically speaking, Daydreamer goes further than its predecessor. There is more depth to it, and it features a weightier sound. Aside from its clear post-grunge influences, it also features some atmospheric shoegaze soundscapes, making this a more expansive release.

The members of feedtherightwolf join us today for our latest Stereo Six. They outline six seminal albums that played a significant role in shaping their sound.

“We all have a really diverse set of backgrounds and musical interests, everything from jazz to skate punk to ’90s era hardcore to pop. With this EP, I’d say if there was a common denominator in what albums and artists inspired us, it would be that they bring a heavier, atmospheric sound with a darker, lyrical/vocal approach. Here are a handful of records that helped shape Daydreamer.”

1. By A Thread – The Last of the Daydreams (1999, Revelation Records)

“This band has been a huge influence on us for years. Their first record, The Last of the Daydreams, is so underrated in the post-hardcore world, especially given the time it came out when this sound really started to gain commercial traction. It’s a great record and has aged so well. There’s nothing particularly intricate about the songwriting or playing, but that’s what makes it great. It’s just a sound that is fused so well together, with interesting quiet/cleaner parts that transition to loud and heavy, all anchored by some incredible drumming.

“We actually ended up referring to it in the chorus line of the title track from Daydreamer as a bit of an ode to the band’s influence on us. It’s so hard to pick a single track from this album, but we’ll go with the opening track ‘Surface’ since it captures a little bit of everything.”

2. Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come (1998, Burning Heart)

“Over the years it’s probably become a little bit cliche to mention Refused, but we just couldn’t exclude them. There’s a reason The Shape of Punk to Come has the name it does. It was/is truly innovative and even all these years later, it is a reminder to artists to just express themselves. While our band doesn’t necessarily sound like Refused, there are definitely certain riffs, like in the track ‘At Long Last’ from Daydreamer that play to the groovy, heavy parts you hear in Refused’s catalogue.

“I guess we should pick the track ‘Hook, Line and Sinker’ from their record Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent since we have a track with the same name on this EP, but we’ll keep the cliche going and roll with ‘New Noise.’”

3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Take Them On, On Your Own (2003, Virgin Records)

“This pick might be a little bit out of left field, but BRMC have been delivering amazing records for years. The interchange between guitar and bass in the band’s songwriting (both Peter Hayes and Levon Been actually switch between instruments) brings such a cool vibe and always keeps you on your toes. BRMC’s catalogue is vast these days, but the bass parts in particular on the album Take Them On, On Your Own were a big influence on Daydreamer.

“Everything from the tone to the isolated riffs and solos, to the simpler rhythm parts are so interesting and are so quintessential BRMC. For fans of the band, and this LP in particular, it’s hard to pick anything other than the track ‘Stop.’”

4. Nirvana – Nevermind (1991, DGC Records)

“Nirvana’s album Nevermind makes the list for a very specific reason and that reason is the track ‘Breed.’ Most of our songs are pretty mid-tempo and groovy. With the track ‘Smile, F*cker!’ our guitarist Matt just broke out a super simple, formulaic set of guitar parts one day when we were all jamming. It probably wasn’t more than 20 minutes before we had the template for what would turn out to be the opening track on our record. Needless to say, this song is probably the one that gets the crowd most rowdy during our shows and rightfully so.”

5. Balance and Composure – Separation (2011, Hopeless Records)

“Balance and Composure is probably one of the few bands where we have a really bad consensus in terms of influences and artists we all listen to regularly. As we were writing this EP, one song in particular, ‘Deathstare,’ quickly came together. I don’t think anyone is ever really consciously thinking about influences as we write, but after the song was done a friend of ours mentioned how much it reminded them of the song ‘Galena’ by B&C.

“On one hand, it was a bit validating in terms of the song coming out well, and of course, it’s always great to hear a comparison to a band that we love as much as B&C. At the same time ‘Deathstare’ is still uniquely feedtherightwolf so it’s so cool to see how our influences played out in this one.”

6. Local H – As Good as Dead (1996, Island Records)

“We’re going to stick with the deep cuts here and call out Local H as our last influence. This band is/was so cool and different for the era they came up and it’s awesome to see two-pieces (like ’68, Middle Class Rut, and Royal Blood) do so well now. There are so many great qualities about Local H — their guitar progressions, heavy drum patterns and of course massive hooks that have given them staying power over the years. As Good as Dead in particular was a big influence on how we approached the choruses for this EP.”