Thirty years after the death of frontman Kurt Cobain, Nirvana and their music still feel very close. Does that have anything to do with Weird Al's equally "defining" parody, a track that let Al "sell out" again after the disastrous UHF experience...with a band at the bleeding edge of the sell-out conversation? The shroud of tragedy, the performance of self, rebellious chaos, and ballerina tutus: better get to the gym, y'all! It's an all-new MASTAS.

Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Hole. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

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It's an all-time training-montage banger vs. Weird Al's vision for Rocky XIII in today's episode, as we drop Wiki factoids, contemplate an all-depressing-follow-up-hits season, digress at length on Live's legal battles, and wonder when in Reagan's presidency the Me Decade became sentient. Greetings from the Sly Stallone industrial complex; get that sammich to go and listen to an all-new episode!

Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by the Waitresses. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

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You can't always control what people do with your art once it's out in the world -- something Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits may have learned the hard way with both the original "Money For Nothing" AND Weird Al's re-imagining of the song via a dream sequence in UHF. Essential references versus essential songs, 20th-century TV's preoccupation with yokels, and resting Don Henley face...they're all in this episode, so finish up that microwave-oven install and listen.

Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by the Allman Brothers Band. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

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It's that Airbnb pasta-taxonomy poster in pop-song form: "Lasagna," Weird Al's take on Los Lobos's take on Ritchie Valens's take on the Mexican folk song Sarah and her classmates dutifully droned during first-period Spanish. Before we cast our votes (and yours!), we talk about the restaurant from Big, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Dr. Melfi's ex-husband, Sophia Petrillo, forgetting the word "benefit," and Polish jokes. Are we putting the "no" back in "buongiorno"? Listen and see!

Our intro is by Laura Barger and Giacomo Baldelli, and our outro is by Claudio Villa for the Big Night soundtrack. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

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Late-sixties melodrama meets early-nineties blockbuster in today's episode, as we contemplate who left the Barney cake out in the rain while comparing Richard Harris's "MacArthur Park" and Weird Al's "Jurassic Park." Claymation, foiled cantatae, The Odyssey, Godspell, and songs for when the coffee's kickin' in, plus the YouTube-comments bingo card and an "un-preciation" of a popular novel, all factor into our discussion. Listen and enjoy unironically!

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by the Association. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

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The unique legacy of Tommy James and the Shondells adds another chapter today, as Weird Al contends with Tiffany's smash cover of "I Think We're Alone Now." We're discussing Jersey-girl aspirational fashion, budge sound that's a feature and not a bug, and that person you could know becoming that person everyone does know. Take a break from sewing patches on your jean jacket and have a listen!

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by the Ramones. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

Can Weird Al inch ahead in the season standings with "I Lost On Jeopardy," his parody of the Greg Kihn Band's "Jeopardy"? We're talking early adopters, terrible album-title puns we admire, second careers, cheap-but-creepy videos, and how MB's personal Jeopardy! journey deepens his appreciation of this Yankovic joint. Tell 'em what they've won, Don Pardo! (It's either an all-new WAvE episode or some Rice-a-Roni.)

Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by the Waitresses. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

This week's match-up pits The Presidents of the United States of America's "Lump" against Weird Al's "Gump"...but is it really a face-off if the original is two thirds of the way towards being the parody? What is the age of Al-wakening? What's the difference between "unserious" and "unpretentious"? Are butt-adjacent references the Yankovic equivalent of a Hitchcock cameo? And did Al have any choice when it came to his subject matter back then? Watch out for those shifting matrices; it's an all-new ep of MASTAS.

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by the Offspring. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

"What if we just........didn't." That's one of the questions confronting us as WE confront an out-of-character entry in the Weird Al songbook: "Fat." The problems don't start there; there's the cheap-sounding and turgidly self-serious original, "Bad"; by problematic artist Michael Jackson; the risible video by MJ, and the shortcutsy cruelty from WA...there's even an ill-advised decision in a high-school talent show. Bass requests, Staying Alive references, and conscientious objections: it's an all-new MASTAS!

Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by the Stone Roses. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

Grab a tube sock for your privates: it's time to pit the Red Hot Chili Peppers against Weird Al! Before Mark makes the pun that drives our listenership numbers off a cliff, we're discussing the omnipresent Chilis hits "Under The Bridge" and "Give It Away"; how many songs Weird Al might have tried to fit his Flintstones joke set into before settling on these; the five items '90s dorm rooms had to contain lest their occupants risk expulsion; and the difference between "sexy" and "just always naked all the time." Hashtag justice for the Bee Girl: it's an all-new episode of MASTAS!

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Queens of the Stone Age. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

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