My New Band Believe

Influences

• The Fall — Picton has repeatedly cited Mark E. Smith's relentless, unpolished vocal delivery as a blueprint for his own dry, spoken-word style. You can hear this in the cynical, deadpan vocal delivery on the 2026 self-titled track. It is the exact same working-class British sneer that Smith weaponized for decades.
• Can — Picton's bass playing on the debut borrows heavily from Holger Czukay's hypnotic, repetitive 'active listening' style. The rhythm section carries the melody while the guitars are left to slash aimlessly in the background. It is a direct lift from the German krautrock school of rhythm.
• Swell Maps — The loose, deliberately messy home-recording aesthetic of Epic Soundtracks and Jolas fits Picton's post-2025 production ethos. The tracks on the debut sound like they were mixed with a cheap board, prioritizing raw room noise over pristine studio separation. That DIY grit is a direct descendant of late-seventies rough-trade singles.
• Public Image Ltd — Jah Wobble's heavy, dub-infused basslines are the foundation of Picton's post-punk transition. You hear this in the sub-bass frequencies on the new tracks, which push the low end to the front of the mix while the vocals stay buried. It is a production trick straight out of Metal Box.
• This Heat — The cold, industrial atmosphere and tape-splice editing style of the Brixton trio heavily shaped Picton's structural sensibilities. He frequently references the band's use of harsh, unexpected studio edits in his interviews. The sharp, abrasive transitions on his latest output show the exact same disregard for traditional song structure.