Favorite Five: Raincheck

This month editor Miles Silverstein caught up with Raincheck guitarist and Hearing Aid staff writer, Ben Bagley to talk about his top 5 favorite albums.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

Slanted & Enchanted (1992) – Pavement

The first one is one I just like. I went for Slanted & Enchanted, the debut Pavement album. It was actually only pretty recently that I got into Pavement, in the last few years. It was recommended to me by some of my friends, and I just remember sitting in the library, cracking out an essay on the 30 Years War, and listening to this album, and I was blown away – I loved it. The guitars are so cool, the lyrics are just crazy. I think it really speaks to a generation of men who can't really sing, but love music. Malkmus is a legend. That’s my first album. It's genius – and the album cover is so cool.

What Did You Expect from The Vaccines (2011) – The Vaccines

This one's a bit of a nostalgia one. My dad always had this record on in the car when I was growing up, on our CD player. Initially I didn't really get it. I was like, “What is this? This is dull.” They have this song, ‘If You Wanna’, which is like a pretty, slightly dumb pop song. But, at one point I just thought, “you know what, this is a pretty good album,” and I got into it. I guess that's probably the first album I heard that really got me into indie music. So, I guess that's why it's important to me. My dad took me to the Roundhouse in Camden to watch The Vaccines, which was one of my first gigs, so that was pretty special as well. Whenever I listen to this album, it takes me back to my earliest, my formational music experiences as a kid.

My Love is Cool (2015) – Wolf Alice

I love this band. Another one that I was really big into in first year actually. I actually bonded with a lot of my early friends at university over this band and this record. I just think it's absolutely stunning. The way they kind of flip from these really heavy, rocky, aggressive songs to these kind of heartfelt love songs. I think it's really nice and Ellie Rowsell, the singer's got an amazing voice. I saw them in the Barrowlands in Glasgow. That was so special, it's probably one of the best gigs I've been to, it was absolutely amazing

Mit K (2012) – Kraftklub

It's a German language album called Mitka by a band called Kraftklub. I discovered this album when I was learning German at school, and it's basically the reason that I've stuck with the German language. And I've studied it to degree level, so that says all you need to know. It's kind of an indie band, they have heavy guitars in the background, but this guy raps over the top in German. They rap about shit indie discos and soy milk lattes over guitars. It's kind of a political, not a joke band, but you know, it gives a Streets kind of thing. They have this track, ‘Ich will nicht nach Berlin’, which is the third track on the album, I think. Which is just a great song, and I can't really think of an English band who really does what they do.

Deep Down Happy (2020) – Sports Team

Very important album to me. I remember I was working at a festival with my mate, we were volunteering, doing something, and we skived off our shift at lunchtime to watch the band we just heard about, on the grapevine in London. And I was just immediately like, “this is the band.” They were just so cool, like the energy and the passion. The lead singer Alex Wright is just crazy. The lyrics are hilarious. The fact that I discovered it together with my close mates makes it a special one for me as well. Big inspiration, sports team . What a band, what an album. Truly.