ok long and very nerdy thread incoming: I’ve been thinking about the way each character plays their instruments and how they progress as musicians throughout their story so! here we go

wwx of course starts out fully punk/garage rock, he gets that guitar at 14 and he makes it his life mission to learn every cool riff ever made. once he starts writing his own stuff tho, he sees he has a knack for melody so here’s my first pick https://open.spotify.com/track/6lnnaGN20kl0jEYJSxCgU9?si=-SPzL-R3TQS-Adeq57qDRg

as time passes and he gets more exposed to more music and theory in general, he becomes interesting in upping the complexity of his guitar parts. he loves layering, he loves effect pedals, he wants to tell stories through his playing https://open.spotify.com/track/4SE81CrzH0qPA8KHqM9Syz?si=ZThyRWyxRfefzqJp1TxRdA

he starts changing as a person and so his playing does too. it becomes more melancholic, he’s attracted to minor keys and weird time signatures, it’s not his intention but he’s innovative! (just listen to the last minute of this one) https://open.spotify.com/track/0JhpYE9xA3UpSFrmXTZyIF?si=6J9u5M4mSXapEpkH3IIjhw

finally I see him becoming a sort of guitarist that gets lauded for his melodicism and his soaring riffs that take you elsewhere. he’s heavily praised for his tones! I liken him to david gilmour in this regard, just listen to the solo on this one https://open.spotify.com/track/3TO7bbrUKrOSPGRTB5MeCz?si=Ly0rZUAzS4uJ-9eTa1JtxQ

ok so my hc with jc is that while wwx is a great guitarist with a lot of feel, jc is a technical machine, he’s an incredible guitarist and he’s dexterous as hell. since they start playing together, here’s another strokes song that goes hard lol https://open.spotify.com/track/3mYCd23hPxJW5okSvMoy3x?si=al-p7eEhTUmr8at4fvFBMQ

though he’s a more straightforward guitarist, his rhythm parts are super compelling, he loves anything dreary sounding that resonates with the heart. in other words, he loves angst LOL https://open.spotify.com/track/7Fz5UcHhAVxrlpEYxbGpy1?si=fGoL4RpxQUSpQ-SDsadBAw

with time, he also becomes interested in complexity and building his parts from the ground up. his technicality comes in handy here because you need a fine ear for this kind of stuff lol https://open.spotify.com/track/38ZW90yqTca2NYmh3uy4xV?si=TG91RYn5RqOknBLWbDAGLw

finally, I think he becomes an accomplished guitarist that people go to, he’s trustworthy in that way. he also has a producer’s ear so he manages the band a bit with that (wwx is full mad genius instead lol) here’s one that just feels like him to me https://open.spotify.com/track/2bQZ9BBhP7vSBiyDz7KXnv?si=d1fwwIx1QgunI2gvgkHp0g

OK!! mianmian is just suuuch a cool bassist, she’s the one dancing in dance, grooving out. honestly she’s almost fully inspired by tina weymouth from talking heads lol but yes her bass is a driving force in petal’s music, a la: https://open.spotify.com/track/3FzKPS0oVknVlCW3PhxIHl?si=785CHLvHSguesLW53_5Jqg

she weaves through the songs with impressive innateness, she always knows exactly what a song needs. she’s also the one who grew up being fed new wave, punk, and goth, so she was always meant to be a bassist lol another pixies song bc kim deal is oof https://open.spotify.com/track/2Aqc48sn8He26hmTvQ2BMj?si=87RPu72ySJm0VK0PE8kxHw

she’s also objectively the coolest member of the band and has the most attitude. her bass speaks for her most of the time but she won’t take shit from anyone lol but that’s why her playing is so LOUD! https://open.spotify.com/track/6iUNdLnwnIHWvgQXwJJnGQ?si=62hmO1oDQqWkoGm9Mv33rQ

finally, I think with time her melodic playing takes on new forms as her interests in other genres expands (mianmian goes full funk LOL jkjk) so to finish off, here’s the goddess herself: https://open.spotify.com/track/06JKOTOoHXuuKkiSBDdU6n?si=DYp6FKAKRvmq46iTEEiclw

ok so the reason I even wanted to do this thread was bc I NEEDED to talk about wn’s drumming lol so I’ve sort of modelled him a bit after stewart copeland from the police and I feel like he has a similar interest in playing beyond what a normal kit can do https://open.spotify.com/track/3PfBnnkOf0LbCw2jixUCQG?si=AEazHGmMSQSDU3lGGA7Zmw

I don’t wanna say that he plays like stewart bc his style is extremely distinct, but see I want that same distinctness for wn! you can immediately tell it’s wn drumming on a song bc of those tasty tasty licks lol https://open.spotify.com/track/3ixzqclumr9K5ZY8xcdo0O?si=F7biEkdWQrOPDu5kZFEVxg

so he’s super long and skinny but he’s hiding some extreme power in those limbs and that all comes out when he drums! he likes complex rhythms https://open.spotify.com/track/3UITHFgn7ZorqYfOXI0lOY?si=SKJ0iSyASc6tMuOj4rDLkg

finally, he gets his due as an influential drummer bc that’s what he IS! I love the image of him going OFF during an especially strenuous song, just limbs flying everywhere and fully panting because he’s a BEAST, full ghost general mode

anyway I’m done, if anyone actually reads through this, you have my heart MWAH! thank you for indulging this nerd lol