How Beastie Boys, Hendrix & Hunter S Thompson Shaped Plague Vendor's New LP

Californian punk outfit Plague Vendor have freshly released their second studio full-length, Bloodsweat, on Epitaph Records, the follow-up to 2014's well-received debut LP, Free To Eat. 

To celebrate the new record's arrival, frontman Brandon Blaine has written some track-by-track insight as to the inspirations and influences that helped shape the album; you can give the album a spin using the Bandcamp player below, and read through for Blaine's back-stories to learn how Beastie Boys, Sade, Halloween, Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, Jimi Hendrix and more left their mark on the band's newly released effort.

Anchor To Ankles

I took some lyrical inspiration from Beastie Boys' Rhymin' & Stealin’. If you listen carefully around 1:40, you can hear the giant hands of a storm destroy a ship as it’s swallowed up by the sea.

Jezebel

Ever since I heard Jezebel by Sade, I wanted to use that word in a song and tell my own story. A couple’s desire to expand their minds on a camping trip turns into a night of murderous psychedelia as they each dive deep into their own subconscious.

Ox Blood

This song is told from the eyes that see everything but are rarely laid upon themselves. Picture John Carpenter's slasher/thriller Halloween but with a Johnny Rotten/Jim Morrison type playing the role of Michael Myers. THE NIGHT HE COMES HOME…

Credentials

We are all stoked to have this song finally let off its leash and let loose upon the world. We wrote Credentials drunk in a hotel room a cappella and recorded it on our phones. Once we got home from tour we were able to play it with our instruments; it's probably my favourite song on the record.

ISUA

Hedonistic, wide-eyed vultures enjoying their long night-turned-summertime-bender. I stay up anyway and lead the flying V to our next feast.

Chopper

Chopper reminds me of a Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas type of vibe, very colorful, very sharp and very dangerous. A drug-induced wild ride to the ins and outs of the American dream.

No Bounty

No Bounty is a traditional outlaw song that I've always wanted to write. We wrote it live on stage as an encore when we had no other songs to play so the lyrics just came to me on the spot and remained the staple lyrics of the song.

saturday Night Shakes

Saturday night is about staying up till 6am and being the last one awake. I'm scrounging for anything left to drink, any last cigarette but it's pretty much exactly what the lyrics are about. Comstock is where the band lived at the time; I would stay there and we would all party for weeks on end. This song is inspired by those late nights.

Fire to Emotion

Fire To Emotion has reminiscent roots of Free To Eat, it reminds me of a classic garage rock song. It’s my version of Jimi Hendrix's Fire.

Got it Bad

Got It Bad for me was the hardest song, or I should say, the most challenging song to record in the studio given the vocal performance it requires at the end of the song. I turned the heat up in the room, put on three jackets, turned all the lights off and was able to capture what it required in one take.

Giving In, Given Out

Giving In, Given Out is probably the most positive. I would say it’s the most positive song we've ever written in terms of it having no real dark themes at all. The lyrics are coming from an inner part of me which I’m telling myself that I'm not giving up, I'm not given out. Giving in meaning I'm not going lose; I'm not gonna lose myself or what I believe and feel and I'm not gonna give in.

Bloodsweat is out now on Epitaph Records. Get it via Bandcamp.