Tristan is back on the pod this week, we're talking a little SummerSlam 2020!

We recap the event, talk about the highs and lows and how it fits in historically. The highlights and the lowlights, what we wanted to see and what we were happy with.

For anyone who witnessed SummerSlam 2020 inside the thunder dome, this will be a fun listen. 

Check out more from Tristan on his website www.aretiredgamer.com

Sneaky phone conversation with the young Christian Reynolds. Christian is a relatively new basketball fan who jumped on the Sixers bandwagon when they were the worst team in the league a few years ago. They have since come up to some prominence, but tonight they fell hard to the Boston Celtics in the playoffs, game 2.

We talk about the potential end of the Sixers season, as well as a little bit about the rest of the league, including some potential trade scenarios for the Warriors. It was fun, Christian was lively and full of spunk and energy. He's got a ton of basketball opinions, and he really has become a student of the game, as we discuss on this episode. 

More epic video game talk with long time friend of the show, Tristan Cline. Tristan has launched a new website called A Retired Game. (www.aretiredgamer.com)

In celebration of his launch, we count down our favorite gaming systems. We have been around almost as long as in home gaming systems have existed, so we have a long history worth of experience and systems to choose from! Where does the NES rank? What about more modern systems like Xbox or PS4? Do they even make the cut??! Check it out on this episode!

Also take a look at Tristan's site, where he does reviews and blogs, as well as his YouTube channel with other great mostly retro gaming content. 

It's the 10 year anniversary of the classic album, "The Suburbs", by the amazing band Arcade Fire. In honor of this tremendous record, I brought my friend Thomas Fine on to discuss the greatness of the album, and pick our favorite tracks. 

Thomas Fine is an old band mate of mine, we spent many years traveling up and down the state and inside practice rooms making music in The Iron Heart & Once Over. It was great to catch up with him and talk about one of our mutually favorite albums. 

Arcade Fire are a Canadian band who have conquered the music industry critically and artistically, and perhaps peaked on this album, "The Suburbs". It is a semi-conceptual and themed record, and it's musically dense but also catchy and easy to digest. In my opinion, I think their best album is "Everything Now", but on "The Suburbs" they hit at something that was unique, and ended up winning them the Album of the Year Grammy. 

Check out this episode, it was a lot of fun chatting with Tom and discussing this wonderful record. 

One of my favorite bands, Neon Trees, just released their brand new record. It's called "I Can Feel You Forgetting Me", and it's fantastic! In honor of that, I decided to do a quick solo pod counting down my top 5 favorite Neon Trees songs from their catalog. 

Neon Trees are an indie pop band with a punk like speed and 80s new wave/pop style, and are pretty much what I would consider the perfect band. Not heavy, but fast and sometimes intense lyrically, they blend the rock and pop and make wonderful music.

Singer Tyler Glenn is one of my favorites, he's great to sing along with because his melodies are so damn catchy! If you're not familiar with Neon Trees, go check out their new album (or anything on this list!). You won't regret it. 

We all have those artists ... We all have those songs that we love but we're embarrassed to admit it. Although I would say I'm not embarrassed, I fully support these artists with all my heart - but maybe I should be embarrassed? Should I show shame for music I think is awesome?

The real question I suppose is, just because I think it's awesome, is it ACTUALLY awesome? Well, as I've said before - music is subjective! My version of awesome can be your version of guilty pleasure, and that's why these lists are great. Some of Jamie's picks are picks that I don't feel any guilt at all about liking, but Jamie is a metal guy and his perspective is different. 

Check out this episode - it's really great. I say that every week, but this one I feel more than the others. There was very little editing of the conversation needed, we are just two buddies talking music and stuff we think is funny to like. Good times!

I've mentioned the musical Hamilton many times on the podcast - and due to its recent release on Disney Plus, a lot of my inner circle have been talking and dreaming about Hamilton too! 

I can't even do justice to how awesome it is. I picked 3 songs like we all did, but I easily could have picked 3 other songs, or any of the songs my guests picked. The songs are just that damn good (like Triple H) and my favorites change from listen to listen. 

Not only is the play now available on Disney plus, but the album (on all streaming services) features every song, so you can relive the play over and over again. The whole thing is long, but it is definitely worth a deep dive.

On this episode, I brought on returning guests Erin Brock & Zack Fennie as well as first time guest Christine Brock, and we had a great discussion about the history of the play, the production and some fun facts about the performances, as well as of course our top 3 favorite songs.

Take a listen, hear a preview of some of the great music from a wonderful play!

Last weekend, non-related to it being the 4th of July - I watched a few movies that got me feeling patriotic. They weren't necessarily patriotic movies, just some movies that presented a little slice of Americana, a little taste of what America feels like to me. That got me wondering about other movies like that, movies that make me feel and love being American. 

This is not a definitive list, this is just 5 movies I thought of and decided fit into this category. Five movies I really like, five movies that have distinctive American feeling and might make you feel proud to be American, even among the current tumultuous political environment. 

To be clear - I hate talking politics, and I want my podcast to be a place where people can go and don't have to discuss politics. That's perhaps a polarizing thing and I may be alienating the audience. But this is entertainment. Any side leaning film is not my leaning. I just love movies, and I love being entertained and getting lost in stories. 

Hope you enjoy the episode! 

On Classic Album Breakdown I will choose a record that I have deemed worthy to be dubbed a "classic", and I will bring on some friends to break it down. We'll discuss the history and significance of the record, as well as where the artist was at during that period of their career. 

The first album I decided to break down is a newly 20-year old classic, "White Pony" by the Deftones. This record just turned 20, and it is especially important to me, as Deftones has always been one of my favorite bands, and this was arguably their pinnacle record. 

"White Pony" not only took Deftones in a whole new direction, it went on to inspire many bands that came after them. It broke barriers of what heavy music could do, and it established Deftones as a career band, not just another fluff nu-metal band. Mixing elements of trip hop and shoegaze with their brand of heavy rock, Deftones added an incredible addition to their catalog that includes the bands biggest commercial hit.

Join Zack and I as we discuss this album, and give it the proper love-fest that it deserves! 

Solo pod today! One of my favorite bands, New Found Glory, released their 10th album last week, so it inspired me to dive back into their catalog and I've come up with my top 5 list. 

NFG is one of the most fun bands around, with anthemic songs that are easily sung and shouted along too. Fast, fun, exciting music. They always put on a great live show and their fans are loyal and diehard.

Their new album, "Forever + Ever x Infinity" is out now, go pick it up! And dive back into their catalog with me as I bring you samples and stories from my favorites of their albums. 

I won't give my list away, I want you to listen - but the entire list is basically from 2000-2009 (with one minor exception), but don't let that deter you. Their whole catalog, including the newest record, is full of fun! This band is FUN!