Stuck In Thee Garage #653: October 9, 2026

Writers are often advised to write what they know. The same could apply for songwriters, and sometimes what they write about is music itself. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played new music from C.O.F.F.I.N., Pet Fox, the Van Pelt and Gilla Band in hour 1 and songs about music in hour 2! It's like that time you got George Clinton to play at your college in the '90s.

This playlist is Piven-free:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

C.O.F.F.I.N. - Think Bad/Out in Oslo

Pet Fox - Balance/Balance

The Van Pelt - Kris is Riding Horses in Ojai/Remain Obscure

Adult DVD - Do As I Please/Adult DVD

Greg Freeman - Totaled/All Set the Bone

Gilla Band - Placeholder/Pugnello

Gurriers - Party Lines/Nobody's Coming to Save You

Green Star - Lush/Silver + Dust

Avery Friedman - You Move/Single

Protomartyr - The Old Hotel/Hotel Usona

Shudder to Think - Something to Do/Who Sent You?

The War on Drugs - Who's That/Single

Smug Brothers - Kind Enough to Share the Drop/Pinhole to Vortex

Joel Cusumano - Stigmata/Appendix

Slow Pulp - Entertainer/Melodie

Upper Wilds - Dark Road/Mercury

Hour 2: Music

Van Halen - Little Guitars/Diver Down

Ty Segall - Break a Guitar/Ty Segall

Thrush Hermit - Songs for the Gang/Clayton Park

Talking Heads - Electric Guitar/Fear of Music

The Hold Steady - Certain Songs/Almost Killed Me

Sloan - Waiting for Slow Songs/Between the Bridges

The Reds, Pinks and Purples - Writing Songs/Still Clouds at Noon

Thelonious Monster - ...And the Rest of the Band/Baby...You're Bummin' My Life Out in a Supreme Fashion 

Hunx & His Punx - Baby of the Band/Hardly Released: Bedroom Recordings, Demos, Rarities, Unreleased, and Widely Ignore Material

Peel Dream Magazine - Back in the Band/Pad

Thom Yorke - Dawn Chorus/ANIMA

Blinker the Star - The Band is Back in Town/Juvenile Universe

Colleen Green - Natural Chorus/Cool

Horsegirl - The Guitar is Dead 3/Versions of Modern Performance

Kathy Valentine - Guitar, Talk, Love and Drums/Light Years

Sleater-Kinney - Words and Guitar/Dig Me Out

Nirvana - Verse Chorus Verse/No Alternative

Fire up the celestial jukebox by bonking the link!

Stuck In Thee Garage #652: October 2, 2026

According to the experts, we're in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. The American Psychiatric Association says 30% of American adults experience loneliness at least once a week and 10% feel lonely every day. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played new music from Smug Brothers, Krill and Shudder to Think in hour 1 and songs about being alone in hour 2.

This playlist is talkin' to you:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Smug Brothers - Eureka Minor/Pinhole to Vortex

Krill - Dominate/Secret Language

Shudder to Think - Who Sent You?/Who Sent You?

Protomartyr - Exalted Eagles/Hotel Usona

Joel Cusumano - 7 x 7/Appendix

The Afghan Whigs - 77/Soft Control

The Reds, Pinks and Purples - Bad Poetry in Bed/True Love Daydream EP

Miley - Different Religion (feat. Model/Actriz)/Bass Persuades

Kristin Hersh - Dark Eyed Junco/Sugar on Blackstone

The Tubs - Stoop to Me/Hard Life

Today Junior - Keep On Pushing Me/Stranger Days

Ty Segall - Black Paint/Chrome

Public Opinion - Closed Captioning/The Curse of Public Opinion

Johnny Foreigner - The Sacking of Fairhill House/Forwards!

French Film - Rabbit Foot/Yours + Five

Wild Pink - Still Coming Down/Still Coming Down

Beck - It Ends Right Here/Ride Lonesome

Hour 2: Alone

Split System - Alone Again/Vol. 2

Jack White - All Alone Again/Frozen Charlotte

The Cure - Alone/Songs of a Lost World

Husker Du - Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely/Candy Apple Grey

Foo Fighters - Alone + Easy Target/Foo Fighters

Living Colour - Leave It Alone/Stain

Titus Andronicus - Lonely Boy/The Most Lamentable Tragedy

The Smithereens - Alone at Midnight/Especially for You

The Replacements - If Only You Were Lonely/For Sale: Live at Maxwell's 1986

Silver Jews - Honk If You're Lonely/American Water

Jeff Rosenstock - Beers Again Alone/We Cool?

Ducks Ltd. - How Lonely Are You?/Modern Fiction

Mick Jagger - Lonely at the Top/She's the Boss

La Luz - Lonely Dozer/Floating Features

Ty Segall - The Loner/Fudge Sandwich

Bonk the link and crank up the show in your isolation chamber!

Videodrone #27: Tribute

Videodrone is a weekly(ish) feature looking at music videos from the last half century. 

Tribute (2002)

The term "comedy rock" can be a tricky one, since acts that fall into that genre may swing too far toward one end of the spectrum or the other. Being able to combine musicianship with comedy is something that transcends your run-of-the-mill radio station song parodies. Weird Al Yankovic is the king of this stuff, but others have proven their worth, producing both memorable songs and TV or film projects. This is Spinal Tap is a legendary comedy and it helped that the trio of actors who played the Tap were also musicians who could pull off the musical side, releasing albums and touring as the band. Flight of the Conchords successfully straddled the line as well, starring in a terrific HBO show and releasing funny songs.

And then there's Tenacious D. Formed by Jack Black and Kyle Gass, the duo made its first appearance in 1994 as an opening act. They played the only song they had written, "Tribute," and then asked the audience to vote on what their name should be. Black was soon cast on HBO's Mr. Show while at the same time, Tenacious D was becoming a fixture in the Los Angeles music scene, headlining clubs and opening local shows for the band Tool. Mr. Show stars David Cross and Bob Odenkirk produced three episodes of a Tenacious D TV show that ran from 1997-2000 on HBO after Mr. Show. HBO offered the D a deal to make 10 episodes on the stipulation that Black and Gass would give up their executive producer titles; instead, the duo decided to make a movie instead (2006's Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny).

Tenacious D signed a deal with Epic Records in May 2000 and recorded their self-titled debut album with the Dust Brothers as producers. They were backed by a full band, including Dave Grohl on drums, Page McConnell of Phish on keyboards, Warren Fitzgerald of the Vandals on guitar and Steve McDonald of Redd Kross on bass. The album was released in September 2001 and while it wasn't a huge hit, it was certified platinum by the end of 2005.

"Tribute" was the second single off the album, released in February 2002. The video for the song was directed by Liam Lynch and begins with the guys cramming into a shopping mall karaoke booth so they can record their album. The song, which tells the story of the Tenacious D guys running into a demon (played by an unrecognizable Grohl) who wants them to play the greatest song in the world. In earlier performances of the song, Gass played the iconic opening to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," but on the album, the song steers clear of that part (for obvious financial reasons), although there are similar chord progressions.

The best part of the video (and the song) is when the demon asks them, "Are you angels?" and the D dudes reply, "Nay, we are but men. Rock!" And then the full band kicks in. 

The video cuts back and forth from the demon encounter, which includes Grohl miming an electric guitar solo before Black and Gass vanquish him back to hell, and the duo in the karaoke booth. After the solo, the guys bust out of the booth and start singing to passersby in the mall, who include Ben Stiller, Lynch and an old lady played by character actress Linda Porter (who has appeared everything from Malcolm in the Middle to the third season of Twin Peaks). The song ends as Porter returns with a mall cop, who drags the guys away for making a nuisance. The Tenacious D CD pops out of the karaoke booth and Porter picks up and looks at it, and then with red glowing eyes lets out an evil cackle.

In the decades since, Black's movie career took off, but he would make time to release Tenacious D albums and tour occasionally. However, the band has been on hold since 2024, when Gass made a quick joke about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a show in Australia. The resultant backlash and no doubt Black's desire to continue making movies led to the band cancelling the tour and all other work.

As a postscript, 2002 also featured a video from Liam Lynch for the comedy rock song "United States of Whatever." It's a punky classic that originally appeared on The Sifl and Olly Show in 1999, where it was performed by Olly, who was voiced by Lynch. The song actually started getting requested in 2002 by listeners of LA's KROQ after it was burned onto a CD-R that was sent to the station. A physical single was released and the song became a hit in the UK, debuting at #10 on the UK Singles chart. It was also a hit in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Lynch later included it on his 2003 album Fake Songs. 

Stuck In Thee Garage #651: September 25, 2026

What goes up must come down. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played new music from the Tubs, Kristin Hersh and Beck in hour 1 and songs about falling in hour 2.

This playlist is perfect for when you're driving off a cliff:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

The Tubs - Hard Life/Hard Life

Johnny Foreigner - The New Navigation/Forwards!

Today Junior - Waiting for a Change/Stranger Days

Kristin Hersh - Moths/Sugar on Blackstone

Working Men's Club - Devout/Single

Joel Cusumano - Buying Time/Appendix 

Beck - Ride Lonesome/Ride Lonesome

Futurebirds - Fly On/Far Out Country I&II

Allah-Lahs - Vini da Gama/Sirenas

Ty Segall - Let Go/Chrome

Chat Pile - Influence/Who Loves the Sun

Upper Wilds - Reaper/Mercury

Evil Island - No Good/Terraform the Afterlife

Velocity Girl - I Know Exactly What You Mean/1989-1992

Real Numbers - This Empty Frame/Was It Always This Way

Dinosaur Jr. - No Friends/There Near

Hour 2: Falling

Catherine Wheel - Waydown/Happy Days

Radium Dolls - All That Falls/Wound Up

Dax Riggs - Even the Stars Fall/7 Songs for Spiders

The Jesus Lizard - Falling Down/Rack

Tricky Woo - Fell from a Cloud/Sometimes I Cry

Bullet LaVolta - Swan Dive/Swandive

Black Sabbath - Falling Off the Edge of the World/Mob Rules

Yo La Tengo - Our Way to Fall/And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

Ben Kweller - Falling/Sha Sha

Dude York - Falling/Falling

Tony Molina - See Me Fall/Confront the Truth

Scarce - We'll Fall Down/Noble Scars

The Pursuit of Happiness - When the Sky Comes Falling Down/Love Junk

Dumptruck - Watch Her Fall/CBGB '86 & '88

The Black Angels - Empires Falling/Wilderness of Mirrors 

Fall into the show by clicking the link!

Stuck In Thee Garage #650: September 18, 2026

Sometimes you just need to mix things up. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I put the playlist in a blender and came up with two hours of randomly selected songs. It's random, but not as random as Mick Jagger in an Emilio Estevez sci-fi flick.

This playlist is free, Jack:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Pavement - Range Life/Live at the Palace, Hollywood 4/24/94

Ty Segall - Drug Mugger/Mr. Face

Pill - Sin Compromiso/Soft Hell

Kids on a Crime Spree - Overtaken by the Soil/Fall in Love Not in Line

Future of the Left - Stand by Your Manatee/Travels with Myself and Another

Eyelids - Starlight Limelight Machine/The Accidental Falls

The Strokes - Barely Legal/Is This It

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Cameo/Sideways to New Italy

Girlpool - Babygirl and Mental/Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, Vol. 2

The Brigands - (Would I Still Be) Her Big Man/Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era

The National - Baby, We'll Be Fine/Alligator

Weezer - Tired of Sex/Pinkerton

Fugazi - Long Division/Live at Irving Plaza, NYC 4/4/95

Danger Doom - Benzie Box (feat. Cee-Lo)/The Mouse and the Mask

Bob Mould - Keep Believing/Silver Age

Ceremony - Years of Love/In the Spirit World Now

Teenage Fanclub - Hold On/Here

Max Webster - Check/Universal Juveniles

Hour 2

Varsity Drag - Knife/Live Owls: Varsity Drag Live on WFMO

Guided By Voices - Eye City/Crystal Nuns Cathedral

Early Man - Four Walls/Closing In

Buffalo Tom - Treehouse (Acoustic)/Bones EP

The Zambonis - The Greatest Season/To Bleed Black and Gold

Pointed Sticks - Shape of Things to Come/Part of the Noise

Stephen Malkmus - Freeze the Saints/Face the Truth

Hooded Fang - Glass Shadows/Venus on Edge

Notches - Sayin'/Normal Demo

Pearl Jam - Don't Gimme No Lip/No Code outtake

Led Zeppelin - Over the Hills and Far Away/Houses of the Holy

Jason Isbell - In a Razor Town/Sirens of the Ditch

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

Kathy Valentine - How the West Was Won/Light Years

Gang of Four - You'll Never Pay for the Farm/Content

Iggy Pop - Repo Man/Repo Man soundtrack

The Men - Fire Sermon/Buyer Beware

Hit the futuristic link thingy to be transported to the rock music!

 

Stuck In Thee Garage #649: September 11, 2026

The further we descend into our current state of weirdness, the more the '90s seemed like some sort of quaint dream. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played new music from Johnny Foreigner, Ty Segall and Chat Pile in hour 1 and songs from 1996 in hour 2. Get ready to joust!

This playlist is gonna get medieval:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Johnny Foreigner - The Concrete Collar/Forwards!

Ty Segall - Glass/Chrome

Chat Pile - Deep Blue/Who Loves the Sun

Today Junior - Coastlines/Stranger Days

Upper Wilds - Death Song #3/Mercury

Real Numbers - Don't Look Away/Was It Always This Way

Phoebe Bridgers - Kill Me/Lost Weekend

Sweeping Promises - Rapture, Or.../You Say I Romanticize

Velocity Girl - I Don't Care If You Go/1989-1992

Dinosaur Jr. - Read the Room/There Near

Wild Pink - Round of Applause at the End of the World/Still Coming Down

Art d'Ecco - The Death of Indie/Scheele's Green

Radiator Hospital - Can't Help Tryin'/Distorting Time

Public Opinion - When Kevin Gets Free/The Curse of Public Opinion

The Cramps - The Natives Are Restless/Gravest Gravy

Hour 2: 1996

Superdrag - Destination Ursa Major/Regretfully Yours

Spoon - Don't Buy the Realistic/Telephono

Frank Black - Kicked in the Taco/The Cult of Ray

Descendents - When I Get Old/Everything Sucks

D Generation - Scorch/No Lunch

Beck - High 5 (Rock the Catskills)/Odelay

Sloan - A Side Wins/One Chord to Another

Weezer - Pink Triangle/Pinkerton

Lush - Single Girl/Lovelife

Sebadoh - Beauty of the Ride/Harmacy

The Afghan Whigs - Honky's Ladder/Black Love

Soundgarden - Burden in My Hand/Down on the Upside

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Lovely Creature/Murder Ballads

Wilco - Outtasite (Outta Mind)/Being There

Pavement - Painted Soldiers/Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy soundtrack

Suede - Trash/Coming Up

R.E.M. - Electrolite/New Adventures in Hi-Fi

Fire up your cable modem to listen to the big show!

Videodrone #26: Knives Out

Videodrone is a weekly(ish) feature looking at music videos from the last half century. 

Knives Out (2001)

The music world was a-changing in the early '00s. The MP3 revolution was quickly putting a dent in physical music sales as the kids were figuring out that you could find just about anything for free on the innernet. That said, music itself was still interesting. 

After the success of 1997's OK Computer, Radiohead was primed to supplant U2 and R.E.M. as the biggest band in the world. But Thom Yorke and co. resisted that pull and moved in a different direction with 2000's Kid A, eschewing the conventional guitar-driven sound of their first three albums for an experimental, electronic-focused sound that divided fans who were looking for OK Computer 2. Frontman Thom Yorke wrote abstract lyrics, taking phrases that he cut and reassembled randomly. And the band released no singles and did very little press.

Despite all this, Kid A debuted at #1 in the U.K. and became the band's first chart-topping album in the U.S. as well. Critics loved it. As it turned out, Radiohead had an album's worth of songs left over from the Kid A sessions and released them in May 2001 under the name Amnesiac.

The second single from the album was "Knives Out," a creepy, pensive song that didn't resemble the rest of the album with its Johnny Marr-esque guitar lines. According to Consequence of Sound, Yorke's lyrics were about cannibalism, "the idea of the businessman walking out on his wife and kids and never coming back" and "the thousand-yard stare when you look at someone close to you and you know they're gonna die." 

The video was directed by Michel Gondry, who had filmed videos for Bjork, Thomas Dolby, Sinead O'Connor, Foo Fighters, Daft Punk and the Rolling Stones. He soon became a film director, with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind being the most notable. He was going through a breakup at the time he filmed "Knives Out"; the video featured Yorke grieving in a hospital room as his partner, played by Emma de Caunes, who is being operated on as if she were the patient in the game Operation. It also features the couple on a train and later, Yorke as a mouse. 

Gondry later said making the video was a terrible experience. "I showed [Yorke] a storyboard and every single detail: He was completely excited and happy for it--and then, it turned out, they all criticize me for being selfish and putting my own views on it and my own introspection...It did not go smoothly, but if it went smoothly, it would be mediocre," he said in an interview with The Playlist.

The video was made in one shot, with Yorke and de Caunes rushing from scene to scene. In an interview with Rebel, Gondry said the video was based on his experiences with his girlfriend dealing with leukemia and then later when they broke up. The video is trippy for sure, fitting the unsettling vibe of the song and keeping the viewer guessing as to what's actually going on.

The song was a hit in the U.K., reaching #13 on the U.K. Singles chart and #1 in Canada. Meanwhile, Amnesiac debuted at #1 on the U.K. Albums chart and #2 on the Billboard 200. The song has been covered by the Flaming Lips, Christopher O'Riley and Brad Mehldau, and the title would later go on to inspire Rian Johnson's film of the same name.

Twenty-five years later, Amnesiac stands out as a classic album and "Knives Out" continues to enchant the listener.

Stuck In Thee Garage #648: September 4, 2026

Birthdays come and go, but it's important to celebrate them appropriately. This week marks the 13th birthday of Stuck In Thee Garage and BFF.fm. It's strange to think I've been doing this for so long, but that kind of applies to everything I do, I suppose. Anyway, it's been a blast to watch the station grow into a San Francisco institution (soon to get its own spot on the terrestrial radio dial) and I've enjoyed making close to 1,300 hours of radio (yikes!). 

To celebrate, I've got new music from Pardoner, Dinosaur Jr. and Upper Wilds in hour 1 and songs about teenagers in hour 2. Time for a super soft birthday party!

Party's happening, Daryl:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Pardoner - Twisted/Target Practice

Dinosaur Jr. - Blowin' Up/There Near

Upper Wilds - Fever/Mercury

Queens of the Stone Age - Insignificant Other/Perfecth

The Afghan Whigs - Loose Talk/Soft Control

Andre Cymone - The Resurrection/The Resurrection of Funk

The Mountain Goats - Candlebox/Days

James Wavey - When Did the Lights Go Out/Sleepers Break

Gurriers - Nothing Happens Twice/Nobody's Coming to Save You

Ceremony - Dark Summer/Tell Me Your Dream

French Film - Let Go of Precious Things/Yours + Five

Chelsea Wolfe - Seethe/The Dark

Sweeping Promises - Does He Want to Be the Weatherman?/You Say I Romanticize

Kiwi Jr. - Painting After Painting/Blowin' Up

Yard Act - Tall Tales/You're Gonna Need Some Music

Bondo - Bondo/Bondo

Hour 2: Teenagers

The Twilight Singers - Teenage Wristband/Blackberry Belle

The Hold Steady - Teenage Liberation/Boys and Girls in America B-side

David Bowie - Teenage Wildlife/Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)

Fortune House - Teenage Brain/Single

Cameron Keiber - Landmine Teen/Nurser

Ghost Party - Teenage Shaman/Ghost Moves

Joel Plaskett Emergency - Drunk Teenagers/Ashtray Rock

The Exploding Hearts - Teenage Faces/Shattered

FACS - Teenage Hive/Void Moments

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Surreal Teenagers/Wig Out at Jagbags

The Dambuilders - Teenage Loser Anthem/Ruby Red

Near Beer - Teenage Shit/Sleeping is for Suckers

Ladyhawk - Teenage Love Song/Ladyhawk

Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot/Daydream Nation

Light this candle by cranking the show up NOW!

Stuck In Thee Garage #647: August 28, 2026

One of the great things about rock music is that it can be about anything: Love, hate, unicorns running across a meadow, you name it. It's also a great way to protest something. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played new music by French Film, Wild Pink and Andre Cymone in hour 1 and protest songs in hour 2. Couldn't find anything about this guy's protest, though.

Get a playlist, morans:

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

French Film - Crude Charm/Yours + Five

Radiator Hospital - Hellhound/Distorting Time

Kiwi Jr. - Pure Michigan/Blowin' Up

The Afghan Whigs - Jungle Roux/Soft Control

Wild Pink - 500 is the New 250/Still Coming Down

Son Volt - Serenade Song/Sound Signal Serenades

SSK - May You Never/Suitcase

Evil Island - Tiger Baby/Terraform the Afterlife

Andre Cymone - Psycho Love/The Resurrection of Funk

The Cramps - Hungry (1977 Version)/Gravest Gravy

Sweeping Promises - Last Man/You Say I Romanticize

Phoebe Bridgers - Liberty Tree/Lost Weekend

Chelsea Wolfe - The Dark/The Dark

Public Opinion - Enhancement Talent/The Curse of Public Opinion

Ceremony - Death Destruction Mayhem/Tell Me Your Dream

Joudy - Shovel/Permanent Maintenance

Yard Act - Cherophobe Rock/You're Gonna Need Some Music

Hour 2: Protest

Gang of Four - No Kings Here!/Single

Bill Janovitz - Bravehearted/Single

Read Yellow - Model America/Radios Burn Faster

Fishbone - Subliminal Fascism/Truth and Soul

The Clash - The Guns of Brixton/London Calling

Rage Against the Machine - Take the Power Back/Rage Against the Machine

Run the Jewels - Walking in the Snow (feat. Gangsta Boo)/RTJ4

S.O.A. - Riot/Four Old Seven Inches

Lou Reed - Dirty Blvd./New York

IDLES - Danny Nedelko/Joy as an Act of Resistance

Living Colour - Auslander/Stain

Minutemen - This Ain't No Picnic/Double Nickels on the Dime

Gang of Four - To Hell With Poverty/ Another Day/Another Dollar

Drive-By Truckers - This Fucking Job/The Big To-Do

The Godfathers - Birth, School, Work, Death/Birth, School, Work, Death

The Dils - Class War/Dils Dils Dils

Superchunk - What a Time to Be Alive/What a Time to Be Alive

Let 'em know you're pissed by cranking the show up really loud.

Stuck In Thee Garage #646: August 21, 2026

Siblings are pretty great, usually. But being that close to someone can also lead to, let's say, disagreements. Things can get interesting. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played new music from Kiwi Jr., Evil Island and Phoebe Bridgers in hour 1 and songs about siblings in hour 2. These two know what's up.

Guess who's got two thumbs and a kickass playlist? This guy!

Hour 1

Artist - Song/Album

Kiwi Jr. - Blowin' Up/Blowin' Up

Sweeping Promises - Cocoon/You Say I Romanticize

Evil Island - T-Hexx (feat. Guy Picciotto)/Terraform the Afterlife

Phoebe Bridgers - Lost Boys/Lost Weekend

Radiator Hospital - Wall Between Us/Distorting Time

Porch Light - Under/Porch Light the Band LLC

Public Opinion - I Pay Everyone I Still Talk to/The Curse of Public Opinion

Yard Act - Thrill of the Chase/You're Gonna Need a Little Music

Feeble Little Horse - Doorway/bitknot

Jack White - All Alone Again/Frozen Charlotte

Knitting - Photocopy/Souvenir

Ecca Vandal - Molly/Looking for People to Unfollow

Josh da Costa - Cordelia/New Wave Graveyard

Read Yellow - Association/Radios Burn Faster

Consonant - Blissful/Consonant

Mission of Burma - Einstein's Day/Vs.

Hour 2: Siblings

War - Me and Baby Brother/Deliver the Word

De La Soul - Big Brother (feat. Mos Def)/Stakes is High

Public Enemy - Brothers Gonna Work It Out/Fear of a Black Planet

Savak - My Book on Siblings/ Human Error/Human Delight

PUP - Sibling Rivalry/Morbid Stuff

Jale - Brother (Komoda Mix)/Brave New Waves: Jale

Elliott Smith - Christian Brothers/Elliott Smith

Queens of the Stone Age - White Wedding/Era Vulgaris B-side

Protomartyr - Half Sister/Relatives in Descent

Mark Lanegan Band - Sister/Gargoyle

Iggy Pop - Sister Midnight/The Idiot

Fleetwood Mac - Sisters of the Moon/Tusk

The White Stripes - Sister, Do You Know My Name?/De Stijl

The Cult - Brother Wolf Sister Moon/Love

Clink the link to hear two hours of the good stuff!

Videodrone #25: Letter from an Occupant

Videodrone is a weekly(ish) feature looking at music videos from the last half century. 

Letter from an Occupant (2000)

What happens when you write a perfect pop song and nobody hears it? Did it actually happen? Well, in the case of "Letter from an Occupant" by the New Pornographers, yes, it did happen and we are all better for it.

Of course, I'm being hyperbolic to say nobody heard it. The song was on the band's debut album, Mass Romantic, which was released on Mint Records in Canada in November 2000. The album got good notices (indeed, the NPs won a Juno for Alternative Album of the Year for it), but it didn't chart and "Letter from Occupant," which was released as a single in April 2002, didn't make much of a splash on radio or MTV. (Although I just discovered it was included on the soundtrack to the movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back in 2001.)

But dammit, it sure deserved to. The group was referred to as a Canadian indie rock supergroup, more as a joke than anything else since none of its members had any real success prior to joining. Head songwriter Carl Newman was previously in Zumpano, Dan Bejar was in Destroyer, John Collins was in the Evaporators, Kurt Dahle came from Limblifter and Blaine Thurier later became a filmmaker. Honorary Canuck Neko Case was already an alt-country solo artist, but her career didn't take off until later.

Case sang lead on "Letter from an Occupant," which was an upbeat power pop gem that was very different from Case's usual repertoire. There was a lot going on in the song, Newman told Pitchfork: "I remember 'Letter from an Occupant' was a pretty belabored song. It ended up being almost minimal, but I remember there's so much shit we put on it. There's a psychedelic 12-string guitar solo, a backwards guitar, there's a really cool synth that's in there but buried. At some point, you have to choose. That was the hardest part about mixing the thing: just making that judgment call. I only feel at peace with the record now because people seem to like it."

Newman's lyrics are also excellent. "The time that your enemy gives you/Good times are not the ones you want/I've cried five rivers on the way here/Which one will you skate away on?/The tune you'll be humming forever/All the words are replaced and wrong/With a shower of 'yeahs' and 'whatevers'/You traded me away long gone."

The video was directed by Michael Dowse, who went on to direct feature films including the beloved cult comedy FUBAR, the hockey comedy Goon, and several others. The video features the NPs performing the song in different locations with a screen in the background that jumps to the next scene. It likely got plenty of play on MuchMusic in Canada; if it got any MTV airplay, it was on 120 Minutes. I certainly never saw the video until YouTube came along years later.

I never heard the NPs on the radio, but rather discovered the band the way I learned about a lot of music in the early 2000s, through MP3 blogs. It was around 2003 when the band's second album, Electric Version, came out, that some of the blogs I followed started hyping the New Pornographers. I went back and discovered the greatness of Mass Romantic. 

The early '00s was a great time for Canadian indie rock: The New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, Metric, Wolf Parade, Stars, Arcade Fire, Death from Above 1979, The Dears, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Hot Hot Heat, Black Mountain, Land of Talk and on and on. 

The NPs just released their 10th album earlier this year. Newman remains the band's leader and Case continues to work with the group, even though her solo career has really blossomed. The rest of the lineup has fluctuated over the years, but the band's output remains strong. Still, Mass Romantic and "Letter from an Occupant" was a hell of a launching-off point.