A very special episode of Necktie Optional to celebrate and reflect on 250 years of American independence, and reflecting upon the good, bad, and ugly - and embracing protest music as a desire for positive change.

Setlist:

The Menzingers | America (You're Freaking Me Out)

Greta Van Fleet | A Change Is Gonna Come

Conner Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band | Roosevelt Room

Descendents | 'Merican

John Prine | Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore

Bright Eyes | When The President Talks to God

Carsie Blanton & The Burning Hell | Private Equity

Mon Rovia | Heavy Foot

Jesse Welles | Masks Off

David Dondero | Pre-invasion Jitters

Forest Sun | America, I Love You

Micah Schnabel | Nuclear War

KennyHoopla | NEW AMERICA//

Ozomatli | Pa Lante

Edwin Starr | War

Brendan Hines | Guillotine

Carsie Blanton & The Burning Hell | Hoist the Guillotine

Bad Religion | Let Them Eat War

Rage Against The Machine | Testify

Dead Pioneers | Tired

Pearl Jam | Fortunate Son

Bruce Springsteen | Born in the U.S.A.

Episode 11 brings fresh cuts from Michigander, Kelley Stoltz, and Carver Commodore alongside The Beths, The Long Winters, Dismemberment Plan, and FIGHTMASTER. Handpicked, as always. Neckties remain optional. It's also pledge drive week — if you like what you hear, visit www.kpcr.org/join and help keep radio weird!

Episode 10 casts a wider net than most — Iceage, Inundaremos, and Wippy Bonstack bring some international and angular flavor to a set that also makes room for The Killers, Tegan and Sara, and The Beths. More math, more edges, more passport stamps than your average Thursday. Known quantities holding the door open for ones worth knowing. Handpicked, as always. Neckties remain optional.

Setlist:

Stars | Fixed

Braids | Evolution

Boyish | Legs

FIGHTMASTER | Bad Man

Carver Commodore | Never Know What To Say

Cold War Kids | Louder Than Ever

Inundaremos | 3300

Ra Ra Riot | Ghosts Under Rocks

Wippy Bonstack | Dancing with the Monks

Mei Semones | Rat with Wings

Minus the Bear | Knights

The Velvet Teen | Eclipses

Kenny Hoopla & Albert Hammond, Jr. | NEW AMERICA//

Moving Units | Between Us & Them

diet lemon | fool

Trestles | Babylon

King Tuff | Invisible Ink

sueter7 | Confluencias

susquatch | Spin The Words

P.E.E. | IHOP

Feed Me Jack | Knight Fork

Maggie Gently | Horrible Oracle

Weird Nightmare | Might See You There

Iceage | The Weak

Editors | The Rush

Twen | One Stop Shop (For A Fading Revolution)

Teagan and Sara | Hell

The Von Bondies | C'mon C'mon

The Beths | Expert In A Dying Field

The Killers | Dying Breed

Episode 9 lets Rilo Kiley, The Beths, and The Linda Lindas hold the door open for Kashus Culpepper, Hikes, Eastern Souvenirs, and a few others worth remembering. Good curatorial instincts tend to work that way. All killer, no filler. Handpicked, as always. Neckties remain optional.

Setlist:

Man/Woman/Chainsaw | Nosedive

Francis of Delirium | Damned

Great Grandpa | Bloom

Rilo Kiley | The Execution of All Things

The Beths | When You Know You Know

Minus the Bear | Hold Me Down

The Verve Pipe | Barely (if at all)

Jesse Welles | The Ballad of Big Balls

Kashus Culpepper | Jenni

Luc Swift, Kacie Jewel Hill | Still Life 2x2

Dermot Henry | My Favourite Book Is One I've Read A Bunch

Vansire | Rinkside

Mae Powell | Contact High

Dogpark | Don't Lie

Ian Sweet | Criminal Kissing

Hikes | Vulnerable

The Velvet Teen | Forlorn

Mei Semones | Tegami

Emma Harner & Henry Jamison | The Lake

The Linda Lindas | Burning Out

Valley | Vending Machine

Michigander | Superglue

Eastern Souvenirs | Spinning

Post Sex Nachos | Been Somebody

Morcheeba, Django Django | Hold It Down - Django Django Bump & Run Remix

Gryffin f. Julia Church | Spin Me Slowly

Temples | Jet Stream Heart

Episode 8 is stacked with new music: EGOISM, Pamela., Pete Yorn, JW Francis, Arcy Drive, Beaming, Feeble Little Horse, Wes Parker, Kevin Morby, Babehoven, Mikaela Davis, Wild Pink, The Mountain Goats, Michigander, Westside Cowboy, and Francis of Delirium all bringing fresh material. Handpicked as always. Neckties remain optional.

Today's set:

EGOISM | Time for the Needy

Pamela. | Better Than Before

Twen | Tapdance In Limbo

The Velvet Teen | Sonreo

Pete Yorn | All The Beauty

JW Francis | Radio Tower

Arcy Drive | one'n a million

beaming | say goodbye

yeemz | TSA

feeble little horse | Rewind

Sufjan Stevens | Should Have Known Better

Mei Semones | Wakare No Kotoba

Wes Parker | Bad Doggie

Kevin Morby | Javelin

Babehoven | Blue Around You

Mikaela Davis | Nothin's On The Radio

The Royston Club | The Patch Where Nothing Grows

Minus the Bear | Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!

Brigitte Calls Me Baby | Slumber Party

The Gnomes | Magic Man

Wild Pink | Round Of Applause At The End Of The World

The Mountain Goats | Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds

Michigander | Over Before You Know It

Westside Cowboy | Kick Stones (The Boys)

Dari Bay | We're Gonna Be Okay

Hater | Landslide

Loquat | Swingset Chain

Francis of Delirium | Higher

Episode 7 spotlights new releases from Wildermiss, Joyce Manor, Cody Jr, and Francis of Delirium, with a healthy local contingent — Often Easy, Trestles, Luke Sweeney, Indigo Elephant, Sweet Lew, Slow Coast, and The Velvet Teen — rounding out a set that also finds room for Frightened Rabbit, Snail Mail, and Friko. Handpicked, as always. Neckties remain optional.

This week's setlist:

Matt Pond PA | Specks

Modest Mouse | Japanese Trees

Often Easy | The Devil in You

Wildermiss | Kiss The Weeds

Stars | Ageless Beauty

Snail Mail | Feeling Like I Do

Trestles | Bones

Joyce Manor | I Used To Go To This Bar

Luke Sweeney | Sum'r Nights (Radio Edit)

Michigander | I'll Be Ok

oso oso | all of my love

Indigo Elephant | Rat Race

SWEET LEW | sicily

Slow Coast | Not Alone

Cody Jr | End of the Arts

Tapes 'n Tapes | Freak Out

Francis of Delirium | Out Tonight

Ghost Work | Erase the Morning

We Were Promised Jetpacks | Roll Up Your Sleeves

Frightened Rabbit | Swim Until You Can't See Land

Mei Semones | Animaru

Softcult | Pill To Swallow

The Beths | Future Me Hates Me

Friko | Still Around

The Velvet Teen | Gyzmkid

Minus the Bear | Summer Angel

U.S. Royalty | Monte Carlo

Episode 6 introduces new tracks from Liana Warren, Sakai, and Hovvdy alongside with some deep dives into the proverbial dusty record bins — Andrew Bird, Beach House, Sufjan Stevens, Gogol Bordello, and Black Country New Road among the highlights. Handpicked, as always. Neckties remain optional.

The Linda Lindas | All In My Head

Nada Surf | In Front of Me Now

Treasvre | Cherry Red

The Vaccines | Love To Walk Away

Andrew Bird | Make a Picture

Gogol Bordello | Pala Tute

Everything Everything | Cough Cough

Stars | Death to Death

Iron & Wine | Woman King

Liana Warren | Chance Encounter

Kacie Jewel Hill | Jetstream

Sakai | Out

Black Country, New Road | Happy Birthday

Hovvdy | Try Try Try

Beach House | Norway

terraplana | charlie

Mei Semones & John Roseboro | Tooth Fairy

Kings of Convenience | Boat Behind

Dismemberment Plan | A Life of Possibilities

Mae Powell | Where Will Love Go

Blitzen Trapper | Black River Killer

Little Green Cars | Harper Lee

Sufjan Stevens | Decatur, or, Round of Applause for your Step-Mother!

The Velvet Teen | Naked Girl

Michigander | Peace of Mind

Silver Shores | Shadow Artist

Minus the Bear | Fine + 2 PTS

Episode 5 features fresh cuts from Spacey Jane, The Gnomes, and Blackhorse Hotel alongside a characteristically eclectic pull — Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Dismemberment Plan, and Ra Ra Riot among them. Mei Semones makes another appearance, which at this point feels less like a coincidence and more like a residency. Handpicked, as always. Neckties remain optional.

Set List:

Minus the Bear | Throwin' Shapes

Fazerdaze | Lucky Girl

The Velvet Teen | Radiapathy

Fright Years | Stars

Dismemberment Plan | Sentimental Man

Spacey Jane | I Never See Her

Michigander | Giving Up

Modest Mouse | History Sticks to Your Feet

Future Future | Television Glow

Francis of Delirium | Little Black Dress

The Beths | Take

Enemies | itsallwaves

Mew | Introducing Palace Players

Ariel Pink | Round and Round

The Flaming Lips | Silver Trembling Hands

Mei Semones | I can do what I want

Pool Kids | Thats Physics, Baby

Ra Ra Riot | Dying is Fine

Crying | Wool in the Wash

Blackhorse Hotel | Treasure

Telescreens | Otherside of Town

Cold War Kids | Passing the Hat

Friko | Choo Choo

Petey USA | I'll Wait

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists | Me and Mia

The Gnomes | Thinking of Me

Dark Knights of Camelot | Wanna Be

Episode 4 brings fresh cuts from Michigander and aron! & Mei Semones into the mix alongside a well-stocked roster — Beirut, Spoon, Frightened Rabbit, Kings of Convenience, and The Velvet Teen among them. It closes on the Polyphonic Spree covering Lithium, which is exactly as big as it sounds. Handpicked, as always. Neckties remain optional.

Set List:

Michigander | Freaking Out

Lo Moon | Water

Slow Runner | Check out My Myspace

Futurebirds | Fly On

Dolce Wang | On the Inside

Francis of Delirium | It's a Beautiful Life

JW Francis | Watery Road

aron! & Mei Semones | Macrame

Spoon | You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb

Eels | Beginner's Luck

The Beths | Straight Line Was A Lie

Man/Woman/Chainsaw | Only Girl

Ginger Root | Loretta

of Montreal | The Party's Crashing Us

Grand Archives | Miniature Birds

Beirut | Postcards from Italy

Dermot Henry | Little Rib

Kings of Convenience | Homesick

Feist | The Redwing

Punch Brothers | I Blew It Off

Frightened Rabbit | Get Out

Silk Road | Space Station

Editors | All Sparks

We Were Promised Jetpacks | Ships with Holes Will Sink

Indigo Elephant & Mare | Don't Wanna See It

Minus the Bear | Listing

The Velvet Teen | Counting Backwards

The Polyphonic Spree | Lithium

This episode of Necktie Optional begins with a sprint and ends in a conversation. We kick things off in a state of high-tensile urgency, anchored by the frantic, jagged edges of The Walkmen and White Lies—the kind of music that feels like a midnight drive with a broken speedometer.

As the dust settles, the set shifts from raw energy into a study of musical architecture. We navigate the intricate, math-inflected patterns of Minus the Bear and The Velvet Teen before finding ourselves in the lush, baroque landscapes of Andrew Bird and Stars. It’s a sequence designed for those who appreciate a melody that knows exactly where it’s going, even if it takes the scenic route to get there.

The back half of the hour leans into the "Optional" part of our title, loosening the collar with the breezy, city-pop sensibilities of Ginger Root and the minimalist grooves of The Whitest Boy Alive. We round things out with a series of high-IQ collaborations—Kings of Convenience meeting Feist, and Jay Som pairing with Jim Adkins—proving that the best music happens when smart people get out of their own way.

No pretense, no genre-policing—just a collection of songs that are as sharp as a tailored suit, but far more comfortable.