Episodes

For this BONUS Patron-curated episode, we invited our Patrons to send in their favorite Non-English Language songs. They did NOT disappoint! Songs featured in this episode: Komm gib mir deine Hand - The Beatles; Aguas de Marco - Elis Regina; Ça plane pour moi - Plastic Bertrand; Enamorado - Jay Klineman; Bemen Sebeb Letlash - Mahmoud Ahmed; Detalles - Roberto Carlos; Bomba - Jah Wobble’s Invaders Of The Heart; Malagueña Salerosa - The Tubes; Puis Je? - Kevin Ayers; Demolicion - Los Saicos; Jaan ...

When Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo - better known by their respective stage names Gene and Dean Ween of the band Ween - were given full reign of a professional recording studio for their 4th studio album, they rose to the occasion and crafted 1994's "Chocolate and Cheese" . This week's guest, teacher and poet Josh Medsker , joins us as we attempt to dissect this weirdly wonderful, schizophrenic slab. Songs featured in this episode: What Deaner Was Talking About (Peel Session) - Ween; (For ...

In 1991, teenage Louisville, Kentucky band Slint recorded 'Spiderland' , a brooding, sinister record that helped invent post-rock and influenced a generation of musicians. This week's guest Jay Reeve (Muteant Sounds Net Label) joins Rob to dissect this darkly mysterious album. As Steve Albini wrote in a 1991 Melody Maker review: "It's an amazing record, and no one still capable of being moved by rock music should miss it. In 10 years' time, it will be a landmark and you'll have to scramble to bu...

For this week's episode, we climb aboard the rock-and-roll mothership that is Led Zeppelin and their mysteriously untitled fourth album. What more could possibly be said about this ubiquitous classic-rock staple? This week's guest Ralph Cavallaro describes how the record/band went from seminal hard rock touchstone in his youth to bloated, uncool anachronism in his college years to one of his all-time favorites today. Along the way we dig into the sonic artistry and groundbreaking recording techn...

When this week's guest Kristen McLean 's parents were raising the beams of their house in Worthington Massachusetts in 1971, Crosby Stills Nash & Young 's ' Deja Vu ' was the soundtrack. The angelic melding of CSN&Y 's voices belied the often-dark mood of the record, as the members personal struggles and the tattered remnants of the Summer of Love colored every note within. "One morning I woke up and I knew you were really gone..." Songs featured in this episode: No Irish Need Apply - Don McLean...

Formed in 1976 by husband-and-wife duo Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, The Cramps forged their own unique niche in the early punk movement with their raucous brand of rock-n-roll psychobilly. This week's guest, art gallery owner and music fan Brook Dorsch , brings us their debut full-length 'Songs The Lord Taught Us' . "Well, come on little mama, let's tear this damn place up!" Songs featured in this episode: Human Fly - The Cramps; Dark Entries - Bauhaus; Health Fanatic - John Cooper Clarke; The B...

Sociologist, Appalachian scholar and activist Alana Anton is a southern girl at heart, and when she first discovered The Highwomen - the debut album by the country music super-group of the same name composed of Brandi Carlile , Natalie Hemby , Maren Morris , and Amanda Shires - it immediately brought her back to her country roots. The at times gut-wrenching collection of songs is a stunning celebration of women in country music, full of equal parts high comedy and high pathos. An instant classic...

Singer/songwriter Greg Franco (Man's Body, Rough Church, Ferdinand) has a dark secret. Even though he came up in the early-80s LA punk scene listening to bands like Dead Kennedys and Black Flag, he's also completely enamored with the music of British pop band Prefab Sprout and it's founder Paddy McAloon. Join us as we discuss their 1990 release: 'Jordan: The Comeback' Songs featured in this episode: I Don't Want To Grow Up - Descendents; Contact Sigh - Man's Body; Appetite - Prefab Sprout; Absol...

For this special bonus episode, I asked my Patrons to send in a song they kind of love by a band/artist they kind of hate. It's: That ONE Song By That Band/Artist I Don't Really Like Got Me High! As usual, they did NOT disappoint!! Songs featured in this episode: Superstar - The Carpenters; Viva La Vida - Coldplay; Stranglehold - Ted Nugent; Crazy Horses - The Osmonds; No One Like You - Scorpions; Peace Frog - The Doors; Heard 'em Say - Kanye West; Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler; Plai...

Singer/songwriter...musician...producer...et cetera...et cetera Jim Camacho sat down to discuss a record that got him high over 35 years ago and continues to inspire him today: 1985s 'Hounds Of Love' by the incomparable Kate Bush . The songs on this record are at once dramatic, moving, wildly adventurous and undeniably Kate! "Do you want to feel how it feels?" Songs featured in this episode: Hounds of Love - The Futureheads; When The World Stops Spinning - Jim Camacho; Free Man In Paris - Joni M...

Emmy-winning writer Jeff Greenstein (Friends, Will & Grace, Parenthood, Desperate Housewives) knows a thing or two about comedy. So it's no surprise that a record that got HIM high as a young impressionable adolescent ALSO made him laugh. A lot. The songs on 'More of Tom Lehrer' by singer-songwriter/satirist Tom Lehrer combine wickedly-clever wordplay with an absurdist - at times dark - sense of humor that clearly influenced Jeff's future work. "And we will all go together when we go..." Songs f...

As teens growing up in Summit, New Jersey in the late 70s, NY Punk Godfather Jack Rabid ( Big Takeover Magazine ) and his likeminded friends would sneak off to Manhattan to catch shows by the exciting new bands and punk legends they were reading about. Even at 17 they knew Johnny Thunders and his Heartbreakers were something special, and the blistering live document 'Heartbreakers Live at Max's Kansas City' is a prime example of why they rarely missed a show. "I don't know why you just don't... ...

In 1993, British alternative/shoegaze band Catherine Wheel paired-up with producer Gil Norton (Pixies) to create a record that fused the atmospheric beauty of their debut with a crushing wall-of-sound: 'Chrome '. The feedback-drenched tales of beauty and paranoia caught the ear of this week's guest, artist/poet Nate Levine , and he joined us for a deep-dive into the sonic muck. Songs featured in this episode: Black Metallic - Catherine Wheel; Sweetness & Light - Lush; Man In The Box - Alice In C...

This week, activist and co-host of 'The Muck Podcast' Hillary Dougherty takes a break from smashing the patriarchy to bring us a record that made the pandemic slightly more bearable for her: 'Punisher' by indie-rock sensation Phoebe Bridgers . It was a fun, lively conversation and no guitars were destroyed! Songs featured in this episode: Dylan Thomas - Better Oblivion Community Center; Motion Sickness - Phoebe Bridgers; Sad Songs (Say So Much) - Elton John; Waltz #2 - Eliott Smith; DVD Menu, Ga...

Rat Bastard maps out the music of Sandy Denny

Frequent guest and music lover Camila Risso is always on the lookout for sounds that move her...or make her want to move! When she discovered then-25-year-old Leon Bridges and his debut album 'Coming Home' in 2015, she was immediately drawn to his smooth, soulful voice and deeply personal songs. You can brand it as 'retro', but the sound he created with Austin Jenkins and Josh Block of the Texas psych-rock band White Denim is both meticulously old-school and profoundly timeless. Songs featured i...

For this BONUS Valentine's Day episode, we asked our Patrons to send us a song that broke their heart. Because sometimes, love stinks! Songs featured in this episode: Love Hurts - Nazareth; Alone Again, Naturally - Gilbert O'Sullivan; Operator - Jim Croce; Whatever (Folk Song in C) - Elliott Smith; If I Didn't Love You - Squeeze; Things - Paul Westerberg; I Am The Cosmos - Chris Bell; 1963 - New Order; Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House; It Makes No Difference - The Band; Mardy Bum - Arctic M...

A self-professed band geek whose first instrument was trumpet, this week's guest - bassist extraordinaire Dan Bonebrake (Dashboard Confessional, The Lightworkers, Vacant Andys, Quit, Honest Liars...) - brought us a record that for him is an amalgamation of everything he loves about music: "Allroy's Revenge" by ALL . 3/4 of legendary CA punk band Descendents (Bill Stevenson, Karl Alvarez, and Stephen Egerton) teamed up with singer Scott Reynolds in 1989 to create this powerfully melodic, infectio...

We discuss Stevie Wonder's 'Songs in the Key of Life' with special guest Bob Fay

We ventured once again into the Rat's lair - otherwise known as the South Beach studio of Frank 'Rat Bastard' Falestra - and sat down with Miami-via-Pennsylvania singer/songwriter Nick Mencia a.k.a. Nick County to discuss the stunning "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" by Lucinda Williams . The soul-baring songs of Williams transcend any alt-country/American roots-rock labels, and the album is truly a stone cold genre-defying masterpiece! Songs featured in this episode: If You Still Love Me - Nick Co...

Guitar virtuoso Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal's deeply personal solo record 'Abnormal', with special guest Larry Smith

We discuss 'Armed Forces' by Elvis Costello and the Attractions with Chicago-by-way-of-North London guest Steve Carroll

We dig into The Jam's 4th album, 1979's 'Setting Sons" with special guest Rory Cox

Some of our Patrons share a favorite song by a Female Artist/Female-led Band