Five Albums That Bring ONE HIGH FIVE’s David Sauer Immense Happiness
One High Five – Beardlip is available @ Bandcamp.
by David Sauer
Hey guys! This was a fun project to work on. These albums must have come to me during the times I needed them the most. They all bring me immense happiness and I always look forward to listening to them. I feel they build a strong foundation for how I write in One High Five. We just released our second album, Beardlip. Check it out and maybe you can hear the influence of the albums below.
Electro-Shock Blues – Eels
I bought Electro Shock Blues based on the album art. What a score. It still evokes swirling emotions in me where I just want to witness how beautiful the album is and don’t want to be bothered by anything when listening to it. It’s raw. It’s tragic. It’s beautiful. It’s darkly humorous. The album is a reflection of the lead singer, Mark Oliver Everett, quickly becoming the only surviving member of his family. The lyrical honesty and vulnerability on the album was a first for me. This was a treasure I found by myself and that nobody around me knew about, as serves as a guiding hand to navigate the immense complications of life and loss. I also remember my Mom going out and buying their next album, Daisies of the Galaxy for me. That’s a fantastic album too and another good memory for me.
Favorite Tracks: “Last Stop: This Town,” “Climbing to the Moon,” “3 Speed,” “PS. You Rock my World”
Insomniac – Green Day
When I started discovering my own music, I had to pass it through my parents and trust me, Green Day’s Dookie was a hard sell. I learned my lesson and got Insomniac as a bootleg cassette from a friend on the playground in 7th grade. It was a punk rock secret of mine and that really made it special. It was all over after that. Green Day is just that one special band for me. Desert island status, you know? Give me an electric guitar and I’ll happily play punk-pop power chords all day long. Insomniac is the album I put on to pump myself up for anything and I’d take it over Dookie. This album is dark, angry and urgent with great artwork. Mike Dirnt’s basslines are amazing and that sexy and snotty Billie Joe punk voice is always good.
Favorite Tracks: “Armitage Shanks,” “Geek Stink Breath,” “No Pride,” “Stuart and the Ave.”
Sunlandic Twins – of Montreal
I was a DJ at the Cal State University Long Beach radio station KBEACH for a few semesters while in college. Our station manager made me a CD that introduced me to of Montreal with the song “Jennifer Louise.” That song led me to their then latest album Sunlandic Twins. It was magical and really opened me to up to just how fun and wild music could be and pushed my boundaries of what you could do with music. It’s a wild pop-rock album with crazy arrangments of wildly tangled synth lead lines, driving dance beats and lyrics that are full of 10 letter words, deep literary references and unflinching honesty about the human experience. Kevin Barne’s voice is wonderful and deeply seductive in how unique it is.
Favorite Tracks: “Requiem for O.M.M. 2,” “Forecast Fascist Future,” “Oslo in the Summertime”
St. Vincent – St. Vincent
Now while I listen to a lot amount of music, I don’t search out new music all too often. However, this album hooked me instantly and started a deep dive into all of St. Vincent’s catalog. This album gets me for many different reasons. Her concrete brand aesthetic, her voice and musicianship, the endless grooves that I can get lost in, the wide variety of synths and sparse arrangements. This started shaping a new musical direction for me and has encouraged me to experiment with synth instrumentation and arrangments in addition to my love of punk guitars and orchestration.
Favorite Tracks: “Rattlesnake,” “Birth in Reverse,” “Huey Newton,” “Severed Cross Fingers”
Fashion Nugget – CAKE
My grandma lived up in the Bay Area in the 90’s and one day, while visiting, I purchased this CAKE album and time stopped. I have a distinct memory of laying on the bed in the guest room listening to this album on my Discman. This is a weird and nerdy album that taught me what you could rhythmically do with music. Each instrument is constantly doing their own thing and this album is a fun maze of listening to how everything intersects and plays off another. It’s ear candy. I started playing trumpet in grade school and this album taught me that adding brass to alternative rock can be very cool. John McCrea’s vocal delivery and unexpected rhythms always make me smile and have been influential in my own delivery, especially in live shows.
Favorite Tracks: “Frank Sinatra,” “Stickshifts & Safetybelts,” “It’s Coming Down,” “Italian Leather Sofa”
Thanks again. I hope you check them out and if you want a few more, try these:
- Head Trip in Every Key – Superdrag
- So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes – NOFX
- And Out Come the Wolves – Rancid
- Why Do They Rock so Hard? – Reel Big Fish
- Last Rites for a Dying Heart – Jeffery Scott
ONE HIGH FIVE
All songs written, produced and edited by David Sauer
Mixed by Jonny Bell at Jazzcats Studios, Long Beach, CA
Mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering, Chicago, IL
One High Five
David Sauer – Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion
Kyle Traska – Drums, percussion, vocals
Fast Food Video
Video Directed by Todd Grilli
Video Produced by 4th Street Productions & One High Five
website / facebook / instagram
Beardlip’s posits an intriguing duality of playful, almost unflinchingly, upbeat indie rock juxtaposed with heartfelt, honest, and literate lyrics. The album spans raved-up, neo-1960s garage rock, replete with organs and exuberant lead guitar (“Noisemaker”); raucously catchy, indie-rock with unexpected dynamic twists and turns (“Fast Food”); and personal reflection tucked away in quirky neo-new wave pop-rock (“Bones Of My Ancestors”). Among other terrain, the 12-song album also traverses stun-gun indie-funk and artfully-warped rockabilly. Beardlip was mixed by Jonny Bell (Crystal Antlers, Hanni El Kathib), and mastered by Carl Saff (Sub Pop, Matador Records).