Episode 31: Medicine's Brad Laner Talks New Covers Album 'Scarred For Life'

Smells Like Infinite Sadness

On this week's podcast my special guest is Brad Laner, best known as the guitarist and songwriter for Medicine, one of the most interesting and uncompromising alternative acts of the 90s.

Laner’s unique guitar tone and playing style led to the band being associated with the UK shoegaze scene, so much so that they were the first American band signed to Creation Records. The group are perhaps most iconically remembered for performing in the film The Crow (their song Time Baby III, featuring Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Frazer was also featured on the soundtrack).

Laner has also done a variety of other projects, including the Electric Company, and has worked with artists like M83, and has been sampled by the likes of Caribou and Brian Eno. In this week's episode, Laner and I discuss Medicine's new album Scarred For Life (Drawing Room Records October 4th 2019), their first new album since 2014’s Home Everywhere, and the first album to feature the band’s original vocalist Annette Zilinkas.

The albums features a diverse and unexpected collection of cover songs, including tracks from artists like Judee Sill, Slaphappy and The Monkees, all given Laner’s unique sonic stamp.

We chatted about what inspired this collection of covers, what it was like to reunite with Zilinkas, his memories of the alternative rock heyday of the 90s, his thoughts on touring and being a musician in the 21st century and much more. So give it a listen and stay tuned afterwards when I’ll be playing the title track off the new album.

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