Completely Conspicuous 590: Hoover Dam

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1992. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- More of Phil's non top 5s: Soul Asylum, Screaming Trees, Kyuss, Jayhawks, Grateful Dead, Rage Against the Machine

- A few more from Jay: Helmet, Faith No More

- Phil interviewed hockey players who liked RATM

- Jay's #5 and Phil's #4: Buffalo Tom hones their craft with their third album

- Phil's #5: Neil Young turns down after a few years of extreme volume

- Jay's #4: Beastie Boys with a killer album distinguished by more instrumentation from the boys themselves

- Jay's #3: The Tragically Hip's best album gives off a distinctly Canadian vibe

-  Phil's #3: The Singles soundtrack captured the Seattle sound

- Jay's #2: Pavement brings the slacker rock on their debut

- Phil's #2: R.E.M. at the peak of their commercial powers

- Jay's and Phil's #1: Bob Mould starts a new chapter with Sugar

- Favorite songs: "Hoover Dam" (Phil), "Summer Babe" (Jay)

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #426: May 27, 2022

Forty years in the wilderness. To get an idea of what was going on 40 years ago, the Millennial generation didn't even have a name yet, E.T. was using a landline to phone home, and the world was introduced to a badass named Mr. T. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played music from 1982 in hour 2 and it was a great and glorious affair.

Laugh it up, playlist:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Porridge Radio - Birthday Party/Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky

Interpol - Toni/The Other Side of Make Believe

The Smile - Pana-vision/A Light for Attracting Attention

Bodega - How Can I Help Ya/Broken Equipment

Pink Mountaintops - Muscles/Peacock Pools

50 Foot Wave - Black Pearl/Black Pearl

Mister Goblin - Over the Moon/Bunny

Pillow Queens - Hearts & Minds/Leave the Light On

Craig Finn - The Amarillo Kid/A Legacy of Rentals

Adulkt Life - Country Pride/Book of Curses

Fontaines D.C. - How Cold Love Is/Skinty Fia

Cave In - Heavy Pendulum/Heavy Pendulum

Sasami - Call Me Home/Squeeze

PUP - Relentless/The Unraveling of PUPtheband

Guided By Voices - Climbing a Ramp/Crystal Nuns Cathedral

Hour 2: 1982

The Clash - Straight to Hell/Combat Rock

Peter Gabriel - I Have the Touch/Security

The Cure - The Hanging Garden/Pornography

Bad Brains - Big Take Over/Bad Brains

Mission of Burma - Learn How/Vs.

Lou Reed - Waves of Fear/The Blue Mask

Prince - Delirious/1999

Gang of Four - I Love a Man in Uniform/Songs of the Free

A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran (So Far Away)/A Flock of Seagulls

Berlin - The Metro/Pleasure Victim

Missing Persons - Walking in LA/Spring Session M

Kim Mitchell - Kids in Action/Kim Mitchell

Van Halen - Where Have All the Good Times Gone?/Diver Down

Robert Plant - Burning Down Side One/Pictures at Eleven

Husker Du - M.I.C./In a Free Land

Completely Conspicuous 589: The End of Silence

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1992. Listen to the episode or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- In 1992, Jay turned 25, Phil turned 23

- We both worked at local newspapers

- The so-called grunge explosion kicked into full gear

- Jay: Saw lots of great shows, including Lollapallooza, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney

- "Bohemian Rhapsody" was back on the singles chart thanks to Wayne's World

- Metal was phasing out

- Keeping the band brand going

- Jay's non-top 5s: Afghan Whigs, Sloan, Rollins Band, Black Crowes

- Phil's non-top 5s: Luscious Jackson, Phish, Lemonheads, Cracker, PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Lou Reed, Sonic Youth, Bettie Serveert, Mudhoney

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #425: May 20, 2022

As far as modes of transportation go, trains tend to get short shrift these days. But that doesn't diminish the role they play in popular culture. There are plenty of songs about trains, and I've got a bunch of them in hour 2 of Stuck In Thee Garage this week.

Ralph Wiggum choo-choo-chooses this playlist:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

The Smile - Thin Thing/A Light For Attracting Attention

Pink Mountaintops - Blazing Eye/Peacock Pools

Danger Mouse & Black Thought - No Gold Teeth/Cheat Codes

50 Foot Wave - Double Barrel/Black Pearl

Oceanator - Beach Days (Alive Again)/Nothing's Ever Fine

Eddie Vedder - The Dark/Earthling

Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers - Strike 3/Spencer Gets It Lit!

Savak - Dumbinance/ Human Error/Human Delight

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Acid Dent/Night Gnomes

Tijuana Panthers - Helping Hand/Halfway to Eighty

Camp Cope - Running With the Hurricane/Running With the Hurricane

Kurt Vile - Flyin' (like a fast train)/(watch my moves)

Pavement - Folk Jam/Terror Twilight: Farewell Horizontal

The Flashing Lights - Where Do the Days Go?/Where the Change Is

Tricky Woo - Fell From a Cloud/Sometimes I Cry

Hour 2: Trains

Mission of Burma - Train/Vs.

Drive Like Jehu - Bullet Train to Vegas/Yank Crime

Future of the Left - Throwing Bricks at Trains/Travels With Myself and Another

Mike Watt - Big Train/Ball-Hog or Tugboat?

The Kinks - Last of the Steam-Powered Trains/The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

Beck - Broken Train/Midnite Vultures

Art Brut - Blame It On the Trains/It's a Bit Complicated

Rancid - Daly City Train/...And Out Come the Wolves

The Nation of Ulysses - Last Train to Cool/Plays Pretty For Baby

Thelonious Monster - Positive Train/Baby...You're Bummin' My Life Out In a Supreme Fashion

The Cult - Medicine Train/Sonic Temple

New York Dolls - Subway Train/New York Dolls

The Clash - Train In Vain (Stand By Me)/London Calling

Gang of Four - Outside the Trains Don't Run On Time/Solid Gold

The Horrors - A Train Roars/Strange House

Death From Above 1979 - Trainwreck 1979/The Physical World

Completely Conspicuous 588: Divine Intervention

 

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1991. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Phil's #5: The debut of an unknown band called Pearl Jam

- Album had a slow build, didn't really get big until spring '92

- Jay's #5: Smashing Pumpkins' debut is a guitar feast

- Phil's #4: Prince's last great album, according to Phil

- Jay's #4: Under-the-radar power pop genius from Scotland

- Gene Simmons sued over the album cover

- That time Simmons covered "Firestarter"

- Phil's #3: Lenny Kravitz peaks on this second album

- Phil's #2: U2 changes their image and sound

- Shifted from Americana to German electronic sounds

- Jay's #2: Soundgarden blasts into the stratosphere

- Pissing off old people

- Jay's #1: Matthew Sweet breaks through with a power pop classic

- Great guitarists guesting, including Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd

- Phil's #1 and Jay's #3: Nirvana's revolutionary sophomore effort

- Suffers from overexposure on classic rock stations now

- Favorite songs: "Divine Intervention" (Jay), "Breed" (Phil)

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #424: May 13, 2022

The term "weird" is pretty relative these days. What was once considered weird is now fairly normal. Whatever the case, I played songs about weirdness in hour 2 of Stuck In Thee Garage this week and it was weirdly wonderful. Crank it up, but make sure you don't invite the cable guy. That guy's really weird.

This playlist comes with the premium package:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Pink Mountaintops - Nervous Breakdown/Peacock Pools

Near Beer - Yelling at a Dog/Single

Pet Fox - Checked Out/A Face in Your Life

Tijuana Panthers - False Equivalent/Halfway to Eighty

Night Shop - Let Me Let It Go/Forever Night

Spiritualized - The Mainline Song/Everything Was Beautiful

50 Foot Wave - Fly Down South/Black Pearl

Wet Leg - Supermarket/Wet Leg

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Bubblegum Infinity/Night Gnomes

Bodega - C.I.R.P./Broken Equipement

Folly Group - Paying the Price/Human and Kind

Ex-Hyena - Fractured/Single

Adulkt Life - Flipper/Book of Curses

Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia/Skinty Fia

The Flashing Lights - Half the Time/Where the Change Is

Hour 2: Weird

Oingo Boingo - Weird Science/Dead Man's Party

The Prefab Messiahs - Weirdoz Everywhere/Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive

Sebadoh - Weird/The Sebadoh

Guided By Voices - Angelic Weirdness/Warp and Woof

Pixies - Is She Weird/Bossanova

Sick Sad World - Being Weird/Fear & Lies

Jeff Rosenstock - I Did Something Weird Last Night/WORRY.

Art Brut - Weird Science/Art Brut Vs. Satan

Radiohead - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi /In Rainbows

Juliana Hatfield - It's So Weird/Weird

Thin Lips - Nothing Weird/Divorce Year

Cloud Nothings - A Weird Interaction/The Black Hole Understands

Velvet Crush - Weird Summer/Teenage Symphonies to God

Teenage Fanclub - Weird Houses/Thirteen

Superchunk - My Gap Feels Weird/Majesty Shredding

Idiot Genes - Weird Being/BFFs

Dandelion - Weird-Out/Dyslexicon

Jeff Rosenstock - You, In Weird Cities/We Cool?

Completely Conspicuous 587: The Sound of Young America

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1991. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- In '91, Phil graduated from college; Jay worked at the Peabody Times newspaper (R.I.P.)

- A big year for rock, although a lot of the impact wasn't felt until the following year

- Seeds for alt-rock explosion had been sown in the previous few years

- Still a lot of classic rock, hair metal and pop on the charts

- Freddie Mercury died, Lollapallooza tour started

- Bryan Adams was in full balladeer mode

- The evolution of Marky Mark

- Clapton still sucks

- Neither of us was a fan of the Use Your Illusion albums

- Albums were way too long in the CD era

- Phil's non-top 5 albums: Temple of the Dog, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Mudhoney, Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, A Tribe Called Quest, My Bloody Valentine, Tragically Hip, Neil Young, Massive Attack, Primal Scream, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers

- Jay's non-top 5s: Elvis Costello, Nation of Ulysses, Fishbone  

- Rockit Records, R.I.P.

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #423: May 6, 2022

Sports plays a big role in our lives, at least for those of us who are so inclined. The spring is a great time to be a sports fan, what with the NHL and NBA playoffs, the beginning of the baseball season and the NFL draft. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs about sports in hour 2. So put on the foil and crank it up, why don'tcha?

This playlist somehow does not include "Lady of Spain":

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Lava Lamp Pisco/Night Gnomes

Oceanator - From the Van/Nothing's Ever Fine

Bodega - Territorial Call of the Female/Broken Equipment

The Afghan Whigs - The Getaway/How Do You Burn?

Mister Goblin - Safe Words/Bunny

Kurt Vile - Fo Sho/(watch my moves)

Craig Finn - Birthdays/A Legacy of Rentals

Dazy & Militarie Gun - Pressure Cooker/Single

Death of the High Street - Synergy/Single

Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers - Death Ray/Spencer Gets It Lit!

Fontaines D.C. - Big Shot/Skinty Fia

The Folk Implosion - Had Enough/Feel It If You Feel It

Jeanines - Through the Vines/Don't Wait For a Sign

Pillow Queens - Delivered/Leave the Light On

Destroyer - All My Pretty Dresses/Labyrinthitis

Hour 2: Sports

The Zambonis feat. James Kochalka Superstar - Hockey Monkey/More Songs About Hockey...And Buildings And Food

The Zambonis - Beware the Trappa/Unreleased single

Chixdiggit - (I Feel Like) (Gerry) Cheevers (Stitch Marks On My Heart)/Chixdiggit

The Rude Kids - The Hockey Game/Worst of the Rude Kids: A Pardonless Collection

Beastie Boys - Sure Shot/Ill Communication

Pavement - Major Leagues/Terror Twilight

John K. Samson - Fantasy Baseball at the End of the World/Single

Kiwi Jr. - Football Money/Football Money

Bad Brains - D.C. United/Represent

Damone - Revolution/Represent

Christian Fitness - Footballers Have Feelings Too/Slap Bass Hunks

Parquet Courts - Total Football/Wide Awake!

Chixdiggit - I Hate Basketball/Safeways Here We Come

Buffalo Tom - Summer/Live at the Paradise 6/23/06

Rheostatics - Guy Lafleur/Brave New Waves

Guy Lafleur - Scoring/Lafleur!

The Pursuit of Happiness - Gretzky Rocks/Where's the Bone

Gord Downie - You Me and the Bs/Introduce Yourself

The Tragically Hip - Fifty-Mission Cap/Fully Completely