On this episode, we ask why a five-year-old song by Charli xcx is suddenly a hit, and whether the indie sleaze vibe of the official music video for “party 4 u” is a recession indicator.
 
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Avril Lavigne released her first new song in a couple of years, and it features her old skate park pals Simple Plan.

Like a siren calling out to millennials, "Young and Dumb" might be enough to get the attention of aging emos, but does it have anything more to offer than nostalgia? And is Avril too young to be making these types of songs?

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Our longest running challenge was to watch the Hulu documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) and listen to Sly & the Family Stone's Fresh album, and after several months, we finally completed it!

We discuss what struck us about QuestLove's documentary, the highs of the Fresh album and our respective experiences with Sly and the Family Stone's music in our lives.

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(Episode 35.)

We let our moms choose the music for today's episode!

We parse through hits from the likes of Stevie Wonder and Carole King, as well as jazz standards, while contemplating how our mothers shaped our musical experiences. 

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(Episode 34.)

We react to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2025 class of inductees with Q104.3 New York and iHeartRadio Classic Rock brand boss Eric Wellman. 

We wrestle with the controversies, compromises and inherent frustrations of the Rock Hall. Eric dives into the Rock Hall’s history and relevance to the radio and music business. Andrew and Dominique weigh the relevance of this year’s nominees and what direction the Rock Hall should take in the future.
 
And, of course, we debate the snubs!
 
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(Episode 33.)

Users on social media platforms have been acting Frank Ocean's "Solo" from his 2016 studio album, Blonde. 

Dominique and Andrew discuss what might have sparked this trend, why Frank Ocean is such a pivotal artist for LGBTQ+-identifying people and André 3000's contribution to the accompanying "Solo (Reprise)" track from the album.

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It turns out that Americans have been pretty well misinterpreting Smiths songs for quite a long time now. On this episode our guest, comedian and South London native Shem Pennant, leads a seminar on The Smiths and their iconic 1986 album, The Queen Is Dead.
 
Shem offers much needed context to the album, explains why the Smiths’ phenomenon was so uniquely British, and why he doesn’t let Morrissey’s post-Smiths political statements detract from his enjoyment of the band's music.

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(Episode 32.)

We have a very serious conversation about gender conformance, surrounding a very unserious song by Detroit-based rapper Rob Apollo.

Apollo's song "SHE / THEY" has been circulating on TikTok lately, mainly due to a racy lyric in the chorus that you'd think self-righteous Zoomers would hate. 

Dominique and Andrew discuss what teens, tweens and queer people find so fun about the song, and why no one is actually as mad about pronouns as you think they are.

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Diamond returns to At First Listen to dig into her favorite album of 2024, Sabrina Carpenter's mega-breakthrough Short n' Sweet. 

With hits like "Espresso," "Please, Please, Please," "Taste" and "Bed Chem," Short n' Sweet is brimming with personality.

Diamond says there are multiple hits on the album that she's yet to tire of, and she doesn't meet much resistance from Andrew and Dominique. 

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(Episode 31.)

In this mini episode we're focusing on "The Giver," Chappell Roan's attempt at a lesbian country song that's making waves in the pop music world.

Is "The Giver" a legitimate country song or is it a mere novelty — or is it branding? Is any country music legitimate? We also discuss why Chappell Roan is allowed to “go country,” but it was controversial when Beyoncé or Lil Nas X did it.

We talk about Chappell's recent SNL performance, and how "The Giver" is makng Dominique more of a fan but Andrew possibly less of a fan?

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