Does Sam Fender really sound like Bruce Springsteen?
I met a fascinating man in the pub a few nights ago. Without giving away too much about who he is or his life, he had been raised in a very strict religious household, completely cut off from people and any form of entertainment that was seen as inappropriate (which basically meant all entertainment). He eventually broke out of that toxic family dynamic and is now experiencing all of culture all at once, from underground hip-hop to The Beatles, from The Sopranos to Married at First Sight.
The result is that he’s got really interesting taste, and the cultural impact of songs doesn’t mean anything to him. His friends had put him on to many modern greats, such as Nia Archives and Kojey Radical, and I asked if he had dabbled in the classics, like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. He said he liked Led Zeppelin but thought that Greta Van Fleet was better.
I nearly punched this religious escapee. I don’t think Greta Van Fleet are a bad band; however, I find it deeply frustrating that some musicians have found fame by blatantly copying others. Despite reservations about their own pilfering of blues classics, Led Zeppelin were a musical pioneer, and four of the greatest artists in the world came together to deliver some of the most killer albums this world has ever seen. Greta Van Fleet takes that sound and produces a carbon copy that sounds like a diet version of Zeppelin. To suggest they’re better is sickening.
But this guy didn’t care about Led Zeppelin’s legacy. As far as he was concerned, both of these bands existed at the same time, had a similar impact, and left behind a similar legacy, and Greta Van Fleet just happened to be the version he preferred.
I tried to explain the story of Zeppelin, of Jimmy Page passing out on a tour and dedicating his next few years to studio work, learning multiple genres and then eventually merging them. I tried to explain Robert Plant’s affinity for folklore and how he incorporated that into his mythological songs. I tried to explain John Bonham’s drumming style and how he was unlike any other percussionist. I tried to explain how people thought John Paul Jones was proof that the band had sold their souls to the devil and how crucial he was in holding the band together, but this guy didn’t care. He had escaped an abusive religious household, and he thought Greta Van Fleet was better than Led Zeppelin.
He was also a big fan of Sam Fender, and given the conversation we’d just had, I had to ask, “So, do you like Bruce Springsteen?” To which he said, “Who? I’ve never heard of him.” Again, I came close to violence, but it wouldn’t surprise me if his comments on Greta Van Fleet were somewhat similar when discussing Sam Fender and Bruce Springsteen. We hear comments all the time about how Sam Fender sounds like Bruce Springsteen, and the reason why we constantly hear this comparison is because, well, he does.
Fender has never been afraid to admit he’s a big fan of Springsteen. “I’m thinking about the moment Bruce’s music first resonated with me,” he said, “I was a teenager, in my brother Liam Fender’s van that he used to gig with, loose baccy and the old green packets of golden Virginia all over the van, the smell of smoke, full of excitement, driving down to Manchester for some audition for God knows what.”
Fender continued, “My brother whacks in the CD, turns the volume up, and the snare roll of ‘Born to Run’ punched me in the face for the very first time. Something stirred in me that day – and I wish that I could bottle the feeling I had in that van, have a swig every now and then. I wouldn’t be what I am today without my brother, that music and those long rides in that janky little van.”
You can hear Bruce Springsteen’s influence on Fender throughout his music—not only in the way it sounds, which is a stadium-like anthemic rock sound, but also in their shared subject matters. Springsteen and Fender are both happy to write about societal imbalances, emotions, and politics. There’s very clearly a connection there, and it’s a connection that Sam Fender is always happy to acknowledge.
The question remains whether Fender wears his influence on his sleeve too much, to the point that he’s less inspired by Springsteen and more mimics him. His approach isn’t as blatant as Greta Van Fleet’s, but there is certainly an argument to be had there. All in all, there is no escaping that the two definitely sound alike.
