Only Three Lads - Classic Alternative Music Podcast

Go ahead. Laugh and point as Brett struggles through pronunciations...because this week, we're taking on the Top 5 German Albums. Diese Alben sind sehr gut!

Fortunately, we are joined by the gloriously cinematic experimental duo hackedepicciotto - comprised of musical and life partners Alexander Hacke (formerly of German post-punk/industrial pioneers Einstürzende Neubauten) and multi-disciplinary artist Danielle DePicciotto. Their newly released 10th album, Lichtung (Mute Records), is a beautiful, expansive mix of electronics and organic instrumentation, with lyrics - for the first time in their discography - written entirely in German. As Alex and Danielle put it, "[Lichtung] means a clearing, a place in which you can suddenly see the light in a dark forest, a place to rest. As the world seems to be spinning ever more quickly into a place of madness, being in this quiet place helps us think about how to deal with it all.”

Put on your best tablecloth dress and listen to our picks, get swept up in the love story of Alex and Danielle, take in a history lesson or two, learn what the "ZZ Top Theory" is, and much, much more.

Special thanks to Howard Wuelfing from Howlin' Wuelf Media for the introduction and coordination.

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It's time for another in our series of label spotlights, as this week we turn our focus to Hoboken indie Bar/None Records, celebrating its 40th anniversary. Joining us is no better authority than the most omni-present figure in the label's history, Glenn Morrow! In 1986, Glenn's band Rage to Live became the first act signed to startup label Bar/None. Later that year, Glenn would become a partner with the label's founder Tom Prendergast and eventually sole proprietor - a post he held until earlier this year.

Even though he stepped away from his role at the label, his third opus with his current outfit Glenn Morrow's Cry For Help, Our Final Album - Vol. 1, is out now on (what else??) Bar/None Records. The album features 11 new songs and finds the band exploring a number of styles and moods that are sure to please long-time fans as well as newcomers.

During Bar/None's influential history, they have released pivotal records by They Might Be Giants, The Front Bottoms, Yo La Tengo, Freedy Johnston, Edwyn Collins, 10,000 Maniacs, Alex Chilton, The dB's, Ben Vaughn, The Feelies, of Montreal, Richard Hawley, and over 100 other arists. During this episode, we chat about our Top 5 albums from the Bar/None catalogue, catch a history lesson on the label, and get a glimpse of future releases.

Thanks to Howard Wuelfing from Howlin' Wuelf Media for the introduction and coordination.

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Hear ye, hear ye! We hereby declare this month SKEPTEMBER at O3L! That's right, the releases of the UK fiercely independent label Skep Wax Records have been so uniformly excellent this year that we thought it was high time to dedicate an entire episode to them.

Skep Wax is run by indie legends Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey, whose long history runs through seminal bands like Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Marine Research, Catenary Wires, and Swansea Sound. The label carries forward the DIY spirit that drove labels like Sarah Records and K Records, with the simple premise of releasing terrific music on their own terms, driven by the belief that NOTHING beats a great pop record. During this episode, you will hear this delectable six pack of tracks:

1) Swansea Sound - "Mean To Be Mean" (from the forthcoming LP Pre-Post Truth)

2) British Birds - "Scary Movies" (from the upcoming album Oscillate, Murmurate)

3) Jetstream Pony - "Grimalkin Tom" (from the compilation Pets Sounds)

4) The Would-Be-Goods - "Witch Hazel" (from the marvelous record Tears Before Bedtime)

5) Railcard - "Flannelette" (from the brand new long player Two Steps At A Time)

6) Foglights - "A Brighter Kind of Almost" (from the debut EP Nous Deux)

Bonus Track!

Gay Skeleton Club - "2 Cats" (also from Pets Sounds)

Thanks to Amelia, Rob, and the brilliant Skep Wax roster. Get these releases and more at https://skepwax.bandcamp.com. Have a splendid weekend!

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Anyone who have ever had any sort of aspirations of making it in the music business know this well - the chances of “making it” are so slim you might as well play the Lottery with the expectation of becoming a gazillionaire or stand motionless in the same spot waiting to be hit by lightning.  All of the things they tell you to keep you motivated are important - having a dream, drive, determination, and, of course, talent…but that’s clearly not all there is to it.  There are connections and industry politics, but, more than anything, it takes a world of luck.  It’s like this constant series of sliding doors where you need to be at the right place at the right time, and any little tweaks to your timeline and decisions could be the difference maker between being a hopeful and being huge.  Today, we’re going to be talking about the bands that should have been huge - but never quite crossed over to the massive audience they deserved. 

Case in point is the band Freedom Quest, who built up a solid following in San Diego and Southern California in the early ‘70s, built off of the soulful, stirring songs of Craig Ingraham.   It’s hard not to listen to this material (available on streaming services as the album Freedom Quest under Craig Ingraham’s name), and wonder how they didn’t become huge.  All of the ingredients are there - beautiful tunes, expert musicianship, messages of peace, love, and unity that perfectly capture the zeitgeist of the era.  So what happened to Freedom Quest?  Well, a lot, it turns out and you can read the slightly fictionalized version of events in Debora Masterson’s debut novel Freedom Quest: A Love Story (Atmosphere Press), which winds through nearly 60 years in the lives of main characters Michael and Grace - from young star-crossed lovers to bandmates with a world of possibilities in front of them to facing life’s unique twists and turns separately to, ultimately, finding their way back to each other.  It’s the kind of story that reminds you that fate and destiny are very real and powerful forces, and it doesn’t take you long to recognize that the love story of Michael and Grace is largely the love story of Craig and Debora.  It’s a compelling read with a real life soundtrack, as you will learn as we welcome educator, producer, musician, dancer, and now author Debora Masterson!

Thanks to Philip Nakov from City PR for the introduction and coordination.

Proud members of the Pantheon Podcasts family.

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Hey you! Not so F.A.S.T.!** This week, we welcome one of the coolest people on the planet, Nicole Laurenne, to talk about one of the coolest instruments on the planet...the organ!

Nicole has been working double duty this year, constantly touring and turning in amazing albums with both of her projects. All-female garage punk band The Darts released the riotously fun, fiendishly campy rock n' roll blast of Halloween Love Songs, while Nicole's smoky, jazz-soaked project Black Viiolet weighed in with the velvety, soulful record Dark Blue. Both records wonderfully capture two sides of Nicole's musical personality.

Sure, you'll get a condensed history of the organ from aqueducts and pipes to modern electronics, but we, of course, focus on music that RAWKS! Plus, we also talk doorbells, body positivity, tofu, vegan cheese, life on the road, famous fans, movie ideas, pizza and more. Also, to celebrate Nicole's past life, we play a brand new world-famous O3L game "Here Comes the Judge!"

Y'know, just the kind of high-brow commentary you would expect from not just one, but TWO Phoenix New Times award winners!

**Farfisa All Silicon Transistor

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This week, Uncle Gregg, Brett, and Third Lad Stephen Hunking (guitarist/vocalist of cult '80s/'90s band Hypnolovewheel) dig into albums that critics raved about...but the record-buying public just didn't show up for.

Stephen joins the show to talk about Hypnolovewheel's history — from a hilarious and chaotically-worded "drummers wanted" flyer that started it all, to their new reissue campaign kicking off with the compilation Parallel Universe (out now on streaming and Bandcamp), to reclaiming their masters decades later, and their reunion performance at Dromfest in the Catskills over Labor Day weekend.

From the comic book store to the flower fields (and with plenty of Gregg bile), this is a fun-filled joyride that critics love...and you WON'T want to ignore!

Featured tracks: "Wow" and "Everywhere and Nowhere Girl" (both available on Parallel Universe.

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Surrender to the rhythm as we drink up the Pub Rock scene with author Mark Wilkerson!

U.K. , early 1970s: In response to the glitz of glam and the pomp of prog there emerged a DIY, back to basics scene known as pub rock: no-fuss, grass roots rock’n’roll bands playing in tight, sweaty rooms to packed throngs in the Victorian pubs of north London. Pub rock was a relative flash in the pan, lasting only a handful of years, but it produced a seismic shift, bridging the gap between rock’s Baroque period and the ensuing punk and new wave scene, and crucially, restoring the visceral connection between artist and audience.

Through trailblazing artists like Brinsley Schwarz, Dr. Feelgood and Kilburn and the High Roads, pub rock paved the way for countless acts of monumental stature including the Clash, Madness, the Sex Pistols, Blondie, and the Pretenders.

Mark Wilkerson's new book, Pub Rock (33 1/3 Genre series, Bloomsbury Academic) explores the genre’s hardscrabble evolution, and examines its significant and enduring legacy.

Mark is also the author of Who Are You: The Life of Pete Townshend, Tomas Young's War, and Hollywood Dream: The Thunderclap Newman Story, and the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Pearl Jam Twenty.

Do anything you wanna do...especially if that "anything" includes O3L!

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During last week's episode, Jon Langford from The Mekons joined us on the heels of Horror-ble, their newly released dub reimaging on their 2025 album Horror.  While we’ve got dub on the mind, we were reminded that we have been sitting on a long lost interview with pioneering English producer, remixer, and label owner Adrian Sherwood. Throughout his career, Adrian has worked with reggae greats such as Lee "Scratch" Perry and Mikey Dread, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Blur, Primal Scream, Sinead O’Connor, KMFDM, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Einsturzende Neubauten, and so many others, formed the early ‘80s post-punk dub collective New Age Steppers with members of The Slits, The Pop Group, and Public Image Limited, as well as industrial hip-hop group Tackhead in the ‘90s.  His record label On-U Sound System has been one of the most beloved and respected labels for dub, reggae, and experimental electronic music since 1979. 

As a solo artist, the record we were focused on for our chat was his 9th album, 2025’s The Collapse of Everything.  This meticulously

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Ahoy, mateys! This week, we hoist the sails for a swashbuckling, deadline-fueled speed date with a genuine punk legend: Jon Langford of The Mekons (as well as The Three Johns, Waco Brothers, and Men of Gwent). We catch up with Jon somewhere in upstate New York next to a farm stand selling tomatoes and honey (which Jon assures us is "quite civilized").

The Mekons are going on 50 years as a band, from their chaotic early days on the Leeds art-punk scene to classic records like 1985's Fear and Whiskey and 1989's The Mekons Rock n' Roll. And they're still making great and very relevant music. Jon dives into their new dub companion album Horror-able — a wild reimagining of 2025's Horror - by Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu), done with zero input from the band on what the songs were "supposed" to sound like.

We go full nautical with our list of Songs of the Sea this week — including a shockingly filthy history lesson and the mythology of sirens and selkies.

Special thanks to Josh Mills from It's Alive Media for the introduction and coordination.

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This week, we're talking about some of the metal albums that we would recommend to alt-rock fans, whether it be the thundering classics whose influence crossed stylistic boundaries or the albums that could serve as a gateway into the genre for the uninitiated. And, when we say "uninitiated", we might as well be talking about Brett.

Fortunately, not only has Uncle Gregg been a connoisseur of metal for many years, but our Third Lad is the singer/songwriter/guitarist V of alt-metal band Buried Beneath Me. Fusing the raw aggression of post-hardcore with the cinematic weight of progressive metalcore, the band delivers a sonic assault of towering riffs, crushing breakdowns, and lyrics drenched in introspection and despair.

With a reputation for dark, immersive storytelling and a sound that balances brutality and melody, Buried Beneath Me's 2025 concept album The House of Ash creates an atmosphere that pulls listeners into its abyss. Each track is a journey—a descent into struggle, self-destruction, and the fight to rise from the ashes.

Sounds pretty dark and heavy, right? Well, then, it seems like the perfect guest to rope into a rousing O3L game - "METAL LORDS", in which contestants decipher lyrics to decide whether they are from a metal song...or a Christian song. It's a fine line, y'know.

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