With track ‘Easy’ on their roster, a banger about the feeling of a ‘meet-cute’, RAT!hammock have shared with us their playlist of love songs.
Melbourne indie collective RAT!hammock’s well-received ‘Easy’ is a banger that basically captures the feeling of a “meet-cute” with the help of some guitars.
“I was kind of thinking about the feeling of the first chapter of meeting someone,” says frontman Jackson Phelan about the song. “They can appear like some kind of unidentifiable object. They seem shiny and dangerous, cut from crystal. And as you get close to them you get to be one of two partners in crime, committing the big heist and getting away with it. It’s dark and hopeful.”
Since ‘Easy’ is basically a love song and we could all do with a bit of love these days, we decided to ask RAT!hammock bassist Dom Buckham about the group’s playlist of love songs that get the heart fluttering.
‘Hello, I Love You’ – The Doors
This is an anthem for anyone who has ever fallen quickly in and out of love with someone on public transport. Aside from the phrase ‘Hello, I love you. Won’t you tell me your name?’ being comic genius, it sums up just how cute and stupid fleeting infatuation can be.
‘At Last’ – Etta James
This is probably one of the most iconic love-at-first-sight songs ever written. It’s all about that first verse:
At last/My love has come along/My lonely days are over/And life is like a song
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‘Bad Math’ – Obscura Hail
Singer, songwriter, and our dear friend, Sean Conran says this song is “a nostalgic stream of consciousness, interrupted by the announcement of a newborn, and with it, a striking realisation of my own mortality.”
The line ‘I’ve only seen your picture, but I already love you’ is something anyone who has experienced a new family member born in another city or country would understand, with the words feeling particularly apt for 2020.
‘You’re Winning Me Over’ – Nat Vazer
This song has such a warm, nostalgic sound and always reminds me of that awkward feeling you get when you first meet someone and you’re not quite sure about them just yet.
‘Androgynous’ – The Replacements
This is such a beautiful song about two gender non-conforming people finding love and acceptance in each other and themselves. It also hints at hope that one day society will be more accepting and open minded.
‘Absolutely Cuckoo’ – The Magnetic Fields
If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend listening to The Magnetic Fields’ classic album 69 Love Songs – and there’s no false advertising here, it’s three hours worth of love songs ranging from the very silly to the very beautiful. ‘Absolutely Cuckoo’ is one of the silly ones about warning someone you’ve just met to run a million miles in the other direction. And damn, what an ear worm.
‘This Must Be The Place’ – Talking Heads
Apparently this is David Byrne’s “first attempt” at a love song. That bastard.
‘You Said Something’ – PJ Harvey
I’ve always been fascinated by the randomness of our interactions and the connections we have with people, however brief they may be. Sometimes those little connections have real impact on our lives and I think this song really captures the bewilderment and magic of those moments.
‘Cupid’ – The Big Moon
This is a very funny song about an emotionally immature guy trying and failing to pick someone up in a bar. I love the line ‘I’ve been waiting for a girl like you and I’m not ready to change’.
‘Seventeen’ – Sharon Van Etten
This is a spectacular song. I love the concept of coming face to face with your seventeen-year-old self and exploring what they’d think of you as an adult and what you’d say to them. And the way Sharon yells the line ‘I know that you’re gonna be’ gives me goosebumps every time.
Check out ‘Easy’ by RAT!hammock:
