Success in the music business can be hard to achieve. Countless super-talented artists have toiled for decades without scoring a mainstream hit. For many of them, it didn't matter or it was just something they accepted. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs that should have been hits in hour 2. Sometimes all you need to push through to success is a little kick.
The sudden death playlist:
Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Billy Nomates - Spike/Cacti
Quasi - Doomscrollers/Breaking the Balls of History
Megadose - Jackie's Gotta Run/Heating Up
Sleaford Mods - UK Grim/UK Grim
Pile - Loops/All Fiction
Ron Gallo - At Least I'm Dancing/Foreground Music
Superchunk - Everything Hurts/Single
Country Westerns - It's a Livin'/Forgive the City
Widows Gold - Never Had You at All/Love Drops
Cliche Cult - Slippy/Single
Death Valley Girls - What Are the Odds/Islands In the Sky
Enumclaw - Save the Baby/Save the Baby
Fan Girl - react (react)/Single
Royel Otis - I Wanna Dance With You/Single
Weird Nightmare - Oh No/Weird Nightmare
Induce - Violet/Beautiful Distortion
Osees - Social Butt/A Foul Form
Hour 2: Shoulda been hits
The Replacements - Left of the Dial/Tim
Sugar - Helpless/Copper Blue
Consonant - Call It L---/Consonant
The Dambuilders - Teenage Loser Anthem/Ruby Red
Minutemen - This Ain't No Picnic/Double Nickels on the Dime
Rocket From the Crypt - Young Livers/Scream, Dracula, Scream!
Dizzee Rascal - Fix Up, Look Sharp/Boy In Da Corner
Ride - Vapour Trail/Nowhere
Teenage Fanclub - It's All In My Mind/Man-Made
Bloc Party - Helicopter/Silent Alarm
PJ Harvey - Good Fortune/Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea
Lush - Ladykillers/Lovelife
The Spinanes - Noel, Jonah and Me/Manos
Sloan - Everything You've Done Wrong/One Chord to Another
Velvet Crush - Hold Me Up/Teenage Symphonies to God
This week, I'm joined by guest Matt Phillion as
we discuss the resurgence of role-playing games. Listen to the episode
below or download directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
- Recorded in Salem, Mass.
- Last time we recorded for the show was two years ago
- Time is passing quickly
- Jay: Going into the office once a week now
- Matt: It was an extrovert's world for a long time
There are many reasons to run: For fitness, for your life, in abject terror, to catch a bus, to get from one place to another in a hurry. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs about running in hour 2. Let's face it, life moves pretty fast.
Playlist? Playlist?
Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Pile - Poisons/All Fiction
Civic - Blood Rushes/Taken By Force
Enumclaw - Cowboy Bebop/Save the Baby
The New Pornographers - Really Really Light/Continue as a Guest
Weird Nightmare - Sunday Driver/Weird Nightmare
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Burning/Cool It Down
Yo La Tengo - Aselestine/This Stupid World
Wilco - Mystery Binds/Cruel Country
Dead Meadow - To Let the Time Go By/Force Form Free
Dry Cleaning - Don't Press Me/Stumpwork
Sparta - Dark Red Quicksand/Sparta
Piglet - It Isn't Fair/Seven Songs
Induce - Sixteen/Beautiful Distortion
The Bellwether Syndicate - Dystopian Mirror/Vestige & Vigil
Jeff Beck Group - Spanish Boots/Beck-Ola
The Specials - Rat Race/More Specials
Run the Jewels - Walking in the Snow (feat. Gangsta Boo)/RTJ4
Hour 2: Running
The Rolling Stones - Before They Make Me Run/Some Girls
Ben Kweller - Run/Ben Kweller
Mikal Cronin - I'm Done Running From You/MCII
Obits - Run/I Blame You
Slaves - Cut and Run/Acts of Fear and Love
Tin Machine - Run/Tin Machine
Desert Sessions - If You Run/Vols. 11 & 12
The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Gonna Run/Gallowsbird's Bark
Squirrel Flower - I'll Go Running/Planet (i)
Blinker the Star - Only to Run Wild/Juvenile Universe
Ovens - Running In Place/Ovens
Piroshka - Run For Your Life/Brickbat
Kyuss - Freedom Run/Blues For the Red Sun
Queens of the Stone Age - Run Pig Run/Era Vulgaris
Iron Maiden - The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner/Somewhere In Time
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey
about the music of 1996. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
- Phil's #5: Cowboy Junkies score with their first album of originals
- Jay's #5: Sebadoh with a sprawling collection of rockers and ballads
- Phil's #4: Soundgarden's last album of the '90s turned away from their big hit
- Jay's #4: Frank Black with another album of quirky greatness
- Phil's #3: Phish with a fan-friendly studio release
- Jay's #3: Cinematic-sounding crime saga from the Afghan Whigs
- Phil's #2: Double album that was the breakthrough for Wilco
- Jay's #2: After a brief breakup, Sloan comes back with a power pop classic
- Phil's and Jay's #1: Beck blows up with a spectacular album that explores multiple genres
- Favorite songs: "New Pollution" (Phil), "G Turns to D" (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.
Archaeologists have cool jobs. They discover artifacts from bygone
eras and analyze the impact those artifacts had on the people who were
around at that time. In some ways, music is similar. It can tell you a lot about a
particular time and place. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I looked
back at the music of 1993 (THIRTY YEARS AGO!) in hour 2. It was the peak
of the indie rock explosion and it was good. We just had no idea how
short-lived it would be.
Hold onto your butts for this playlist:
Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
The Hold Steady - Sideways Skull/The Price of Progress
SAULT - Money/Today & Tomorrow
Courting - Crass (redux)/Guitar Music
Eyelids - Colossal Waste of Light/Colossal Waste of Light
Peter Gabriel - Panopticom (Bright Side Mix)/ i/o
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fleez/Cool It Down
Weird Nightmare - Wrecked/Weird Nightmare
Enumclaw - 2002/Save the Baby
Viagra Boys - ADD/Cave World
TV Priest - I Am Safe Here/My Other People
Rob Munk - The Ghosts of San Francisco/Phased Out
Archers of Loaf - Breaking Even/Reason In Decline
Wilco - Falling Apart (Right Now)/Cruel Country
S.C.A.B. - Tuesday/S.C.A.B.
Blacklisters - Why Deny It/Leisure Centre
Kal Marks - New Neighbor/My Name Is Hell
Hour 2: 1993
The Pursuit of Happiness - Cigarette Dangles/The Downward Road
The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen/Gentlemen
Superchunk - I Guess I Remembered It Wrong/On the Mouth
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1996. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
- In '96, Jay turned 29, Phil turned 27
- Days of little to no responsibility other than work
- Adventures in sports gambling
- Tougher year to come up with top 5
- The Macarena was all the rage
- Phil's non-top 5s: Rage Against the Machine, Fiona Apple, Sleater-Kinney, Tragically Hip, Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Moe, Tracy Bonham, Luscious Jackson, Sublime, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, Tom Petty, Tori Amos, Cake, Silver Jews
- Rolling Stone lists are sheer clickbait
- Jay's non-top 5s: Soundgarden, Superdrag, Posies, D Generation, Weezer, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
- 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.
It's the first week of a new year. Who needs to look forward when you can look back? This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, it was part 2 of my look at the best indie rock of 2022. The show's all over the map and that's a good thing. These guys love it.
Score, a direct hit:
Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Built to Spill - Gonna Lose/When the Wind Forgets Your Name
The Folk Implosion - Don't Give It Away/Feel It If You Feel It EP
Kurt Vile - Palace of OKV In Reverse/(watch my moves)
Editor's note: Check out my podcast discussion with Jay Breitling
about our favorite music of '22 on Completely Conspicuous (here's parts 1 and 2).
The album isn't what it used to be. Not in terms of quality, but stature. Sure, an album released by Taylor Swift or Adele will still do big business, but the vast majority of albums don't sell like they once did. For rock musicians, releasing albums isn't the potential ticket to success that it was 25 years ago. But fortunately for old folks like me, they still release them anyway.
Touring is a way for artists to make some money, but even that isn't a guarantee to do much more than break even. It's tough sledding if you're in a rock band these days. That said, I still found plenty of great music to enjoy last year. Here's my top 15 albums:
15. Wet Leg - s/t: This buzz bin duo from the Isle of Wight caught fire with “Chaise Longue” in 2021, but they don’t let up on their debut. Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers hark back to the blog rock glory days of the early aughts with guitar-driven rockers and clever wordplay. Teasdale’s super-laid back vocal delivery implies slacker-rock, but clearly, they’re having a blast. Choice cuts: "Chaise Longue," "Ur Mum," "Wet Dream"
14. Superchunk - Wild Loneliness: The mighty Chunk dials down the fury of 2018’s What a Time to Be Alive, taking a more subdued look at big issues like climate change and pandemic life. Mac McCaughan and co. may not be yelling about Trump-era injustice on this album, but they’re still potent. Choice cuts: "Refracting," "Endless Summer," "City of the Dead"
13.Built to Spill - When the Wind Forgets Your Name: It’s a lot to ask of Doug Martsch to expect him to top the peak of Built to Spill’s ‘90s greatness. Their run of albums from There’s Nothing Wrong With Love to Perfect From Now On to Keep It Like a Secret is uniformly outstanding. The band’s four albums since then, on the other hand, are hit or miss. But this release, recorded with a band that was replaced before the latest tour, recalls some of that earlier BTS sound while also mixing in some jammier stuff. Martsch is still a terrific guitarist and he still likes to rip sweet solos, and there’s nothing wrong about that. Choice cuts: "Gonna Lose," "Comes a Day," "Fool’s Gold"
12. Kal Marks - My Name Is Hell:The Boston noise-rockers led by singer-guitarist Carl Shane (who reformed the band with new members after its split a few years ago) unleash a gnarly, ornery and unrepentantly loud album that harnesses anger into a cathartic blast. What is Shane angry about? Politics, religion, financial stability…the topics aren’t new, but the band’s post-hardcore fury feels fresh. Choice cuts: "Ovation," "Everybody Hertz," "Debt"
11. Alvvays - Blue Rev: On its third album, Toronto act takes its dream pop sound to a new level. Combining Molly Rankin’s angelic vocals with big guitars and lots of synths, Alvvays packs a lot of depth into their songs. Choice cuts: "Pharmacist," "Pomeranian Spinster," "Easy On Your Own?"
10. Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia: London-via-Dublin post-punk band expands their sound on third album. Moody and lean, the Fontaines explore relationships, addiction and being Irish. A little more restrained than their first two records but also more pointed. Choice cuts: "Jackie Down the Line," "Roman Holiday," "Bloomsday"
9. The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention: Radiohead doods fill the gap between Radiohead albums with a Radioheady album that sounds pretty goddamn good to these ears. Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood teamed up with drummer Tom Skinner to provide Radiohead fans with a reasonable facsimile of that band’s sound. Yorke and Greenwood trade off on guitar, bass and keyboards throughout and Yorke provides lacerating vocals, ripping into Harvey Weinstein-esque offenders at one point and delving into romantic ups and downs at others. An inspired work. Choice cuts: "You Will Never Work in Television Again," "Pana-vision," "Thin Thing"
8.Hammered Hulls - Careening: Hammered Hulls is a relatively new band, but its members have a shit ton of experience in the DC scene: Singer Alec MacKaye (brother of Ian) has sung in plenty of bands including the Untouchables, Ignition, and Faith; bassist Mary Timony is better known for Helium, Wild Flag and Ex Hex; guitarist Mark Cisneros was in Des Demonas, Kid Congo Powers and the Make Up; and drummer Chris Wilson also plays in TItus Andronicus and previously was in Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. The album’s 12 tracks are furious, righteous and downright exhilarating. Hints of Fugazi and the Minutemen; a worthy entrant into the Dischord catalog, Choice cuts: "Bog People," "Rights and Reproduction," "Needlepoint Tiger"
7. Horsegirl - Versions of Modern Performance: This young Chicago trio (two are in college, one in high school) may be in their late teens, but they’re not afraid to wear their 90s indie influences on their collective sleeve. There’s definitely a strong Sonic Youth vibe (made stronger by the appearance of Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley on a pair of songs) with guitars to match and cryptic lyrics. The whole things add up to a pleasurable, fuzzy guitar record that’s over in a hurry and makes you want to start it again. Choice cuts: "Homage to Birdnoculars," "Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)," "World of Pots and Pans"
6. Oceanator - Nothing’s Ever Fine: Magnificent collection of nostalgic indie rock from Elise Okusami, featuring hot guitar and heavy riffs. Songs about driving around in the summertime (The Last Summer, Beach Days (Alive Again)), dealing with life’s disappointments (Bad Brain Daze, Stuck), and touring (From the Van). Hot rocker. Choice cuts: "From the Van," "Bad Brain Daze," "The Last Summer "
5. Kiwi Jr. - Chopper: It was a good year for Toronto-based acts. Kiwi Jr. has been bringing the heat for a few years now. On their third album in the last four years, these jangle-rock jammers mix in some synths to their propulsive sound and come up with an album of winners. Lyrically, frontman Jeremy Gaudet fills his songs with tons of pop culture references, a la Craig Finn but with a Canuck POV. Choice cuts: "Parasite II," "Night Vision," "Contract Killers"
4. Titus Andronicus - The Will to Live: Patrick “Patty Stacks” Stickles pulls out all the rock stops on the band’s 7th album. Big riffs, rollicking choruses, reflections on God and Satan writ large. Some of the songs touch on the aftermath of the death of Stickles’ cousin and occasional bandmate, Matt Miller. Backed by powerhouse drummer Chris Wilson, who also plays in Hammered Hulls (and Ted Leo’s band previously), Titus is firing on all cylinders here. Choice cuts: "(I’m) Screwed," "An Anomaly," "All Through the Night"
3.The Afghan Whigs - How Do You Burn?: Greg Dulli is back with a compelling album that calls back to past collaborations: the late Mark Lanegan is a ghostly presence, Marcy May duets with Dulli on a sequel to 1993’s My Curse, Susan Marshall and Van Hunt also contribute backing vocals. The band covers the classic Whigs gamut, from all-out rockers to R&B workouts to mournful laments. Choice cuts: "I’ll Make You See God," "Jyja," "The Getaway"
2.Sloan - Steady: Power pop legends deliver yet another collection of amazingly catchy rock songs. Four songwriters, four singers, all killer, no filler. Recorded mainly in isolation over the last few years, you’d never know it from the immediacy of these songs. Choice cuts: "Scratch the Surface," "Dream It All Over Again," "Magical Thinking"
1. PUP - The Unraveling of PUPtheband: Concept album from Toronto pop-punk outfit about the trials and tribulation of a Toronto pop-punk outfit named PUP. They combine smartass lyrics about the ridiculousness of the music biz with catchy choruses and piledriving riffs. Never not satisfying. Choice cuts: "Waiting," "Robot Writes a Love Song," "Grim Reaping"
Honorable mention:
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Endless Rooms
Spoon - Lucifer on the Sofa
Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers - Spencer Gets It Lit!
OFF! - Free LSD
Drive-By Truckers - Welcome to Club XIII
Black Angels - Wilderness of Mirrors
Adulkt Life - Book of Curses
Sharon Van Etten - We’re Going About This All Wrong
Pet Fox - A Face In Your Life
Ex-Hyena - Moon Reflections
Preoccupations - Arrangements
Metric - Formentera
Archers of Loaf - REason In Decline
Ty Segall - Hello, Hi
Pilot to Gunner - Hail Hallucinator
Tony Molina - In the Fade
Mountain Goats - Bleed Out
The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field
Dendrons - 5-3-8
Near Beer - s/t
Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork
Osees - A Foul Form
Pink Mountaintops - Peacock Pools:
Destroyer - Labyrinthitis
Papercuts - Past Life Regression
Savak - Human Error/Human Delight
Sasami - Squeeze
Kurt Vile - (watch my moves)
Kids on a Crime Spree - Fall in Love, Not in Line
Yard Act - The Overload
Adulkt Life - Book of Curses
Mister Goblin - Bunny
Bodega - Broken Equipment
Guided By Voices - Crystal Nuns Cathedral
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Night Gnomes
Elvis Costello and the Imposters - The Boy Named If
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we count down our favorite music of 2022. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
- On to our top 10
- Breitling's #10: Archers of Loaf returns with a different sounding release
- Kumar's #10: Fontaines D.C. evolves its sound
- Breitling's and Kumar's #9: Radiohead offshoot The Smile with an interesting return to early '00s sound
- Breitling's #8: Pleasant surprise album from Palm
- Breitling's #7: First Sub Pop album from Frankie Cosmos
- Bernice taking over the couch
- Breitling's #6: Shimmering pop brilliance from The Beths
- Kumar's #6: A nostalgic rocker from Oceanator
- Breitling's #5 and Kumar's #7: Horsegirl bursts out of nowhere with a lo-fi banger of a debut
- Kumar's #5: Another strong release from Toronto's Kiwi Jr.
- Breitling's #4 and Kumar's #8: Harking back to '85, band full of DC punk vets lands a massive post-hardcore statement
- Kumar's #4: Triumphant return by Titus Andronicus overcoming setbacks
- Breitling's #3: METZ side project Weird Nightmare is "peak Jay (Breitling)"
- Kumar's #3: Afghan Whigs combines old collaborations with new sounds
- Breitling's #2: A "modern shoegaze classic" from Helens
- Kumar's #2: Sloan delivers another classic power pop album that they developed during the pandemic
- Breitling's #1: Side project from Johnny Foreigner principals as Yr Poetry
- Kumar's #1: Smart-ass and cynical look at being in an band from PUP
Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. 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.
