Idol Listening: Seizures’ Favorite Nine Inch Nails Songs
Seizures may very well be the future of mathcore. More than just another Dillinger Escape Plan clone, the Orange County quintet mix in elements of surf, psychedelic, and shoegaze to create something truly unique, which some fans have dubbed it “surfcore” or “beach math.”
The band released a new full-length, Reverie of the Revolving Diamond, on October 4, distributing limited vinyl (100 transparent indigo/opaque aqua blue variant, 200 neon orange variant — purchase here) via their own Sun Terrace Records, with Portrayal of Guilt handling the limited release of 100 cassette tapes (purchase here). There’s also a digital release, natch (stream below, purchase here).
Unsurprisingly for a band this ready, willing, and able to amalgamate disparate styles, Seizures are big fans of Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. Below, vocalist Cameron Miller takes us down the deep, dark rabbit-head-like-a-hole of the seminal industrial project’s catalogue. If you live in the San Diego area, catch the band with Liturgy and JC Meyers at Soda Bar on November 9. Get all the details here. And make sure you keep up with Seizures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
What’s left to say about a band who has been thoroughly documented and written about the past 3 decades? I guess one would be my own personal account, influence, and relationship with this band most have heard or heard of.
Whenever someone has asked me “What’s your favorite band?” or “What music are you into?”, I can confidently say Nine Inch Nails has part of the answer for as long as I can remember. My introduction to the band has been compressed into several memories from my youth in the 1990s: hearing “Closer” in the car on the infamous Los Angeles alternative rock station KROQ, watching Beavis and Butt-head, indulging my fascination with a peculiar teen who terrorized my local beach while wearing a wild-yet-fitting ensemble of sandy combat boots, camo shorts, a chain wallet, and an oversized black faded shirt with the letter’s “NIN” printed dead center.
I kept seeing these three letters around, not knowing what they meant, but I started to write them on my schoolwork and the grip tape of my skateboard. It seemed like a cool thing to do. I finally made the connection at some point and eventually ended up with my own double CD copy of The Downward Spiral, which I probably “borrowed” from my older neighbor’s house and still have to this day.
Fast-forward to my junior year of high school. I am laying on the floor of my room in rehab between my bed and wall, quietly listening to Draper, Utah’s version of the aforementioned station KROQ, hearing “Every Day Is Exactly the Same” for the first time. At 17 years old, I had gotten my rebellious, depressed self into some trouble and had to go away for a bit. Radios were not permitted in this facility, but whoever inspected my alarm clock blessedly missed the hidden AM/FM controls on the right bottom side. Every day was exactly the same in rehab, and every night after lights out, I tuned into music and Loveline, trying not to get caught by my sleeping roommate. NIN had just released their album With Teeth, and luckily for me, this station played a block of songs from their catalogue one night for what seemed like hours. Heavily medicated on anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, and anxiety meds, I felt something real for the first time in months during this marathon of my favorite band — even if it was filled with car commercials and a repetitive ad for a Cypress Hill’s greatest hits album. During this marathon, Trent’s voice came through louder than the music from the cheap pinhole speaker, and for the first time, the words to these familiar songs changed everything for me.
Since Pretty Hate Machine, Trent Reznor has simply-yet-brilliantly said what most of us feel in moments of anger, pain, confusion, hate, and just about every emotion one can experience. He uses a voice we all have in our heads, yet he brings it directly to a microphone. Sure, there are many lyricists who capture the human condition well, but Trent does it so effectively, where the words resonate and are applicable in some relatable way to most who listen. These words are perfectly paired with the exceptional musicianship, experimentation, production, and progression to match the emotional tones in Reznor’s timeless songwriting.
The music and performances of Nine Inch Nails inspire me to create, reflect, push back, and rise above. And while there is much more I can say, I find it best to simply list some of the Nine Inch Nails songs that would make me write a piece like this.
