Noise Floor

Our Death Cab For Cutie series continues this week with The Photo Album. Released in 2001, it serves as the transition point between the early days and the massive success that would follow. We get into the rushed production, the TV show placements, and how we both might have liked this album even more had we heard it in high school.

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This week we're discussing Death Cab For Cutie's We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, a document of post-college life and an "interstitial" time in the band's career. We cover everything from the long process of recording the album at their parents' houses to changing drummers to the follow-up Forbidden Love EP.

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This week we're getting into Death Cab For Cutie's Something About Airplanes, their first proper album, their first release on Barsuk Records, and the beginning of their time as a full band. We cover how the highlights from You Can Play These Songs With Chords evolved, vocalist Ben Gibbard's reflections on the album, and more.

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Our series on Death Cab For Cutie begins this week with their demo album, You Can Play These Songs With Chords, as we explore the early days of the Pacific Northwest emo pioneers and how their scrappy, self-produced debut formed the foundation of a decades-long career.

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This week we're tackling a legendary single-album discography: Operation Ivy. We break down the enduring legacy of Energy, the band's place in punk and ska history, and touch on the EPs and bootlegs, from the pioneering Hectic to the unlistenable Ramones EP. Pick it up!

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Our Mitski series concludes a discussion of her new album, Nothing's About To Happen To Me, from the exploration of a house as a metaphor for the mind to the influence of touring band from The Land on the record's sonic direction.

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This week we're joined by Allison Parssi for a discussion of The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, Mitski's 2023 foray into country and Americana and the source of her massive viral hit, "My Love Mine All Mine." We talk about the album's relationship to memory, its nighttime vibes, and the accompanying tour and concert film.

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Next up in our Mitski series is Laurel Hell, Mitski's sixth album and her return after a brief hiatus from music in late 2019. We discuss the synth-driven arrangements, how it builds on the success of Be the Cowboy, and its themes of transformation and vulnerability.

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We're joined by our friend Emily Csuy this week to discuss Be the Cowboy, Mitski's biggest album to date. We cover everything from our initial reactions (and how the album has grown with us over the years) to the surreal "Nobody" music video to the stunning, cinematic closing track.

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Our Mitski series continues this week with Puberty 2, her true breakout album and another visceral exploration of the balance of happiness and sadness. We talk through the songs, including the arguably perfect "Your Best American Girl," and our experiences seeing Mitski shows in the Puberty 2 era.

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