Like What You Like

Blake is joined by Jack Tecca and Zack Weiss to go over their albums of the year for 2025. The three go over their top 10 albums of 2025 and discuss the merits of their favorite release. Stick around at the end of the show for listener and past guest submissions for their AOTY.

LWYL will return in 2026

Thanks to those who submitted their AOTY:

• Kevin Kiley (Militarie Gun, Lurk)
• Matt Kerner (Origami Button)
• Logan Voss (Snooze)
• Lukas Skucas (Griefeater)
• Chance Mulder
• Jake Wagner (Broken Left Foot)
• Ryan Nolen (Footballhead)
• Tanner Peterson (Broken Left Foot)
• Andrew Smith (Footballhead, and more...)
• Dave Collis (Slow Mass)
• Troy Sennet (Noisefloor, Pelafina)
• Brain Graffiti
• Case Lowe (Q101)
• Cameron & Euan of Music Is A Dead Scene!
• Jack Riedy
• Mitch Mead
• Logan Daniels

Special Thanks to Jack Tecca, Matt Kistler, Zack Weiss, and Mary Moore – You all kept this going.

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Josh Druding is a Beloit, WI raised and Chicago-based music photographer. In the half-decade that Josh has been shooting bands he has covered the world's biggest bands on Chicago's biggest stages. Legendary artists from Green Day to Deftones to Jason Isbell all the way to new upstarts like MUNA and Friko have been photographed by Druding. Currently Josh is in the running for music moment of the year, an award given by the storied Abbey Road Studios, for his photo from Chappell Roans iconic 2024 Lollapalooza set.

While being a prolific photographer Josh is also an lifelong music fan. He's been able to develop working relationships with some of his favorite bands and continues to discover new music along the way.

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Bands Mentioned:

Idles, Jawbreaker, Green Day, Soft Play, Deftones, Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Cage The Elephant, Everclear, Hoobastank, Blink-182, Turnstile, Knocked Loose, Slipknot, Good Charlotte, Taking Back Sunday, Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, MxPx, Goldfinger, MUNA, Wet Leg, The Rolling Stones

This one's fast and loose. I attended 2025's Riot Fest last weekend and caught up with some past guests to talk about music discovery and their experience at the fest. There’s also a couple newcomers to the show, hoping to do longer interviews with these folks soon.

My guests for this episode (In order of appearance):

• Eric Centeno (Demo Division, X Will Mark The Place, DOMS)
• Calen “Squid” Swim (Broken Left Foot)
• Tanner Peterson (Broken Left Foot, Chicago Music Exchange, TNT Chicago)
• Ian Shelton (Militarie Gun, Regional Justice Center)
• Kevin Kiley (Militarie Gun, Lurk, Celebrity)
• Zeltzin “Z” Vazquez (Chicago Show Photographer)
• Andrew Smith (Footballhead, Christian Science Reading Room,meth., Black Nail… etc.)
• Ryan Nolen (Footballhead)

I used Zoom H6 Handy Recorder to do these interviews so there is a lot of bleed from a lot of sources of sound, bands playing and passersby. I feel like its immersive and cool so I hope you enjoy listening!

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Bands Mentioned:

La Rosa Noir, The Cribs, Panchiko, The Academy Is…, Idlesa, Touché Amoré, Senses Fail, Militarie Gun, Mac Sabbath, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, “Weird Al”Yankovic, Green Day, Devo, Shudder To Think, Agnostic Front, Rilo Kiley, Knocked Loose, Blink-182, Manniquin Pussy, Dazy, Alkaline Trio, Citizen, Lurk, Hoax, Iron Lung, Culo, Coke Bust, The Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones, Geese, Cameron Winter, The 1975, Celebrity, Footballhead, Quannnic, boycomma, Panchiko, Yada Yada, Demo Division, Snuffed, Spin Doctors, Deafheaven, YHWH Nailgun, Christian Science Reading Room, Greet Death, Bristletounge, Harrison Gordon, Wishy, Big Ass Truck I.E., The Linda Lindas

Mitch Mead is a Chicago-based songwriter and producer. Mitch has a new show at the Playground theater in Chicago called Midwest Mixtape. The show features up and coming musicians and comedians from around the city. Mitch is no stranger to variety shows and being the outlier on a show. Mitch returns to talk about finding balance in his new show, being creative as a new dad, how things change when you stay in a Chicago for a while, Anemoia (RIP), connecting with Bob Dylan, and listening to Henry Chapin in the car. This and much more on this episode of LWYL

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Bands Mentioned:

Hotline TNT, Disaster Kid, Brandon Good, Shannon Baker, Steve Slagg, Mooner, Lee Ketch, Olivia Gregorich,  Christina Eltrevoog, Lydia Cash, Karl Kirkpatrick Blind Adam and The Federal League, Hot Rod Circuit, The Anniversary, Dashboard Confessional, Saves The Day, The B52’s, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Simon & Garfunkel, Carly Simon, Van Halen, J. Steve Miller Band, Giles Band, Harry Chapin, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Death Cab For Cutie, Hey Mercedes, Coaelesce, The Rye Coalition, Small Brown Bike, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Kangaroo, Glass-Beagle, Wild Earp, Michelle Billingsly, Reilly Downes, Sparkle Carcass, MC5, Craig Finn, The Weakerthans, Tom Waits, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presely, The Beatles, Lifter Puller, The Hold Steady, Buena Vista Social Club, The Sweeps, Dr. Dog, Saintseneca, Fruit Bats, Jason Isbell, Bruce Springsteen, The Gaslight Anthem, The War On Drugs, Elliott Smith, Heatmiser, The Beach Boys 

Jack Riedy is an Author, Critic, Musician and Bonafide Prince O(+> Expert. In this conversation I picked Jack’s brain about Prince's influence on popular rock music as well as on Jack’s own artistic process. Jack just released an album from his eponymous project called Raw Deal. The album combines nostalgic elements with quirky character studies and groovy flair. It was great to talk to Jack about how the project came together, the meaning behind a few of the songs, how first became involved in music, what got him interested in criticism, and of course his favorite music that has accompanied him throughout his life.

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Podcast Caption

Hugo Reyes is a writer, podcaster and zine maker. Hugo’s primary project Violent Treatment has existed in a few forms; a zine, a podcast, and recently a tape label (Check out Majesty). Violent Treatment in all of its forms is a great resource for learning more about what is happening in hardcore right now. At a time when Hardcore is bigger than ever Hugo has stayed true to hyping up newer bands and giving raw takes about the music that he likes. Hugo has also covered Chicago’s DIY scene in great detail in a two part series on his Medium page which I believe to be essential reading for anyone interested in learning more about Chicago music. We talk Hugo's first interests, his journey with Hardcore and DIY shows, and his newfound interest in House music and Footwork

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Bands Mentioned:

Yours, Mookie, Daundry, Bleary Eyed, Bloodthirst, Youth of Today, Raw Nerve, G.O.O.N., Pile, Turnstile, Knocked Loose, Never Ending Game, Agnostic Front, Majesty, Stigmata, Survival Tactic, Sin Against Sin, Splitknuckle, Si Dios Quire, Seclusion, Greet Death, Ace Hood, Doublecross, Insult to Injury, Home Invasion, Hex, Cro-Mags, Critical Beatdown Unit, Terror, Madman, CSTVT, Bongripper, Los Crudos, Cloud Mouth, Hop Along, Algernon Cadwallader, Joyce Manor, TWIAP, He Who Corrupts, Righteous Jams, Plain White T’s, Fall Out Boy, Subliminal Excess, Hotline TNT, DJ Rashad, Osco, Flowering, Frankie Knuckles, Motion City Soundtrack, Braid Jawbox, Alkaline Trio, Lawrence Arms, Articles of Faith, Good Luck, Yankee Bluff, Dogs on Acid, Lou Reed, Goo Goo Dolls, The Replacements, Death Side, Whispers, Human Gas, Oklou, Enya, No Joy, Trapped Under Ice, Silver Jews, Superchunk, Found My Direction, Outspoken, Pool Kids, Paramore, Payasa, Prevention, Velocity

Sam Sodomsky is a critic, musician, and podcaster. I first learned about Sam through the podcast Late-era which he co-hosted. Through Late-Era I was inspired to dig deeper into Sam’s writings on Bruce Springsteen and would see Sam pop up across the web covering more music that I was interested in. When I thought of inviting him on the show to coincide with the release of Track II (the lost albums boxset released by Springsteen this year) I thought I would check out his project The Bird Calls’ new record Melody Trail. I ended up loving the record and from there I plotted on what we could cover in under two hours.

We of course talk about Bruce, but we get into Sam’s parallel fascination with Metal, The Bird Calls, the music that he loves, his onstage wardrobe, and whatever happened to Welcome to Chicago.

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Band’s Mentioned:

The Bird Calls, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Aerosmith, Jethro Tull, Phish, Neil Young, The Beatles, Toto, Men At Work, Christopher Cross, Billy Joel, Black Sabbath, Mastodon, Baroness, Wolves in the Throne Room, Sun O))), Boris, Dark Throne, Death, Dying Fetus, Deafheaven, Pallbearer, Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold, Enya, Stone Roses, Elliott Smith, Ween, Jeff Tweedy, Silver Jews, Destroyer, Yo La Tengo, The National, U2, Guided by Voices, Martin Newell, The Cleaners From Venus, Chicago, Advance Base, David Bazan, Cass McCombs, Ariel Pink

Apres Pompeii is the Chicago-based solo-project of Zachary Weiss. You may recognize Zack from LWYL’s Album of the Year episodes because they’ve been a guest on each and every one (even a lost episode!)

In this conversation Zach and I go deep on the production of Paint, a vibrant pop-record that is set on a hot summer night of partying. We dive into the themes and influences for the record, including the artists that inspired specific moments in the track list. Its a great conversation.

We then, of course, get into the music that Zack has connected to and discovered throughout their life - which includes a fun discussion of Blake-favorite band, Jimmy Eat World.

Bands Mentioned (My new favorite part of doing this show):

Prince, Bjork, Kate Bush, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Laura Marling, Depeche Mode, A-Ha, Tears for Fears, The Police, Talk Talk, Panic! At The Disco, Alvin Cobb Jr., Jennifer Femme, The Dangerous Summer, The Rocket Summer, Death Cab For Cutie, Bruce Springsteen, PJ Harvey, Jimmy Eat World, Paula Cole, Amaarae, Joanna Newsom.

Title says it all! We're talking about our songs of the year. Jack Tecca (As A Ghost) joins the show once again to yap with Blake. The pair list about 20 of their favorite songs of 2025.

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Bands Mentioned:

Seals & Crofts, CSNY, Smut, Accessory, DJO, Broken Left Foot, Prince, The Cars, the Police, Post-Animal, HAIM, Bon Iver, Hotline TNT, Whirr, Cloakroom, Deafheaven, Agriculture, Chat Pile, XWeaponX, Contention, Arm’s Length, Hot Mulligan, The Wonder Years, Ethel Cain, Moving Mountains, Mark Hollis, Jeff Tweedy/Wilco, Talk Talk, Hayden Pedigo, Eli Winter, John Fahey, Jenny Lewis, Greet Death, The Cure, Death Cab For Cutie, Bruce Springsteen, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Mk.Gee, Snooze, Gamma Ray, Guided By Voices, The Beatles, Oasis, Militarie Gun

Latter is the Chicago-Based project of Meredith Haines and Jon Alvarado (Beach Bunny). Meredith Joins the show to talk about the release of Latter’s latest EP entitled What Lives Inside of Me. We discuss the period between their last album (My Body Is My Sickness), the TikTok virality that followed, and how that experience - for better or worse - informed the creation of this most recent batch of songs. Our conversation touches on the writing partnership of Alvarado and Haines; how the two musicians come together to create something greater than the sum of their backgrounds. Meredith and I also get into her projects that preceded Latter, including her education in sound art and her noise project MAIR, which gets us into the political potency of noise. And we of course discuss, the one and only, My Chemical Romance.

Bands Mentioned:

Metz, Godspeed You! Black Emporer, Alvin Lucier, William Basinski Caroline Polachek, Manniquin Pussy, My Chemical Romance, Lee Ann Rimes, Rites of Spring, Fall Out Boy, Wilco, Arcade Fire, Black Sabbath, Pile, Daughters, Big Brave, Young Widows, Jesus Lizard, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Green Day, Brittany  Spears, Nude, Prostitute, The Armed