Steelin' In the Dan

We bring in some friends to take a look back at Steely Dan's debut album, Can't Buy a Thrill.

We've been sitting on this episode way too long because I've been too lazy to do links and artwork, so I'm posting it more or less as is. Thanks for your patience, and apologies to our delightfull guests Lauren and Josh.

Email us! [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @steelininthedan

Get ready for one digression after another (and a little Reddit theater) as Scott and Joe piece together their thoughts on Can’t Buy a Thrill’s final track “Turn That Heartbeat Over Again.” The song’s narrative inspires Scott’s choice, the “try-hard” meth noir The Salton Sea (2002), starring Val Kilmer and a cranked-up Vincent D’Onofrio. Joe is similarly criminal minded, pulling focus to the Safdie brothers’ unrelenting Good Time (2017). Also discussed: heat checks; the destructive power of Disney; Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems; an underrated Paul Schrader gem; the healing power of the drums… I told you it was a digressive one. Just remember: Steely Dan is NOT prog rock.

Email us! [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @steelininthedan

On a particularly coastal episode, Joe and Scott survey the "sun-struck L.A. optimism of 'Change of the Guard'" and end up agreeing with (later) Donald Fagen that it "approaches a level of filler," though Skunk delivers another killer guitar solo. The boys swing east to grab a bite at Bob Giraldi's stylish and entertaining Dinner Rush (2000) before going back to Cali for a tour of the counterculture and the desert in Michaelangelo Antonioni's divisive Zabriskie Point (1970). Scott hits the flyover states to recommend rock out of Austin and jazz out of Chicago; while Joe goes global with a film out of Brazil, as well as a post-punk record and a modern Gothic horror novel out of England. We're willing to die too, but not of boredom.

Email us! [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @steelininthedan

Joe and Scott keep it (relatively) tight this week as they tackle the back-half filler track "Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)", a 68 out of 120 on Dakota's smooth rockin' scale. Then they study the philosophy of cool presented in The Tao of Steve (2000), a leftover of the 90s Gen X indie boom starring Donal Logue as a fat guy who (you'll never believe this) fucks. Your white hosts then squirm their way through a discussion of race and class provoked by Hal Ashby's forgotten gentrification dramedy The Landlord (1970). This episode answers the immortal question "How do we live?" so maybe you should tune in.

Email us! [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @steelininthedan

In this piano-driven installment, Joe and Scott dig into the “Do It Again” B-side “Fire In the Hole”, a sleeper hit hiding on Can’t Buy a Thrill’s back half. The boys follow the piano line into the opening track of Fiona Apple’s When the Pawn…, “On the Bound” from 1999, and a discussion of “a jazz singer for the end of the millenium”, late ‘90s production tropes, and Paul Thomas Anderson. Then it’s off to the Continent for a tour of Arnaud Desplechin’s 2004 French drama Kings and Queen, with tonal dynamics to rival the Dan. Dakota keeps the boys in line, Scott reviews a Flying Lotus show, and Joe delivers a heart-felt send-off to the musician, singer, poet, and cartoonist David Berman.

Email us! [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @steelininthedan

Scott and Joe flip over to side two of Steely Dan’s Can’t Buy a Thrill and revisit the classic rock staple “Reelin’ In the Years.” Their verdict: it never gets old. Next your hosts cower before the intimidating authenticity of Bob Dylan as they discuss his ramshackle masterpiece “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965). Then the boys head back to school to unpack their conflicted feelings on an old favorite, Roger Avary’s The Rules of Attraction (2002). Scott confesses that he’s a Dawson’s Creek fan, and Joe casts Eric Stoltz as Donald Fagen in the Steely Dan biopic in his head. How’s my little girl?

Links:

Scott and Joe wrap up side one of Steely Dan’s Can’t Buy a Thrill with their analysis of the seemingly cynical “Only a Fool Would Say That.” They find parallel visions of the world in the Mothers of Invention’s protest blues “Trouble Every Day” (1966) and Rian Johnson’s snazzy high school neo-noir Brick (2005). The hosts venture out of their depth to talk Frank Zappa, LBJ, the Watts riots, silent cinema, and Mexican stews. Utopian dreams are smashed, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is pounded to pulp. Young ones listening to this podcast: you are the resistance.

Links:

It’s a jumbo-sized episode this week as Scott and Joe crack into one of Can’t Buy a Thrill’s sleeper tracks, the bittersweet “Midnite Cruiser.” They then try to establish a cult for the baffling competitive karaoke dud Duets (2000), starring Gwenyth Paltrow, Huey Lewis, Andre Braugher, and Paul Giamatti (with hair and an earring!). Things veer into darker territory as the hosts grapple with Mikey and Nicky, Elaine May’s unflinching look at two ungentlemanly losers. Your humble episode description writer thinks this may be the best episode yet.

Links:

This week, Scott and Joe scrape the flesh off of Dakota’s favorite Steely Dan song (so far), the mock-anthemic “Kings.” Then they take aim at Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and fall under the spell of Abel Ferrara’s dreamy gangster story King of New York (1990). Historical myths (and Kevin Costner’s ego) are deflated, and Christopher Walken is recognized as true royalty.

Links:

Scott and Joe sift through their mixed feelings about Steely Dan’s soft rock classic “Dirty Work” and have a tough conversation with sad sack guest vocalist David Palmer. Then they zoom in on the messy, tangled love affairs depicted in Mike Nichols’ kinda naughty "Closer" (2004) and Andrzej Zulawski’s totally bonkers "That Most Important Thing: Love" (1975). In the process, your hosts critique Donald Fagen’s looks, praise Julia Roberts’ cargo pants, and yearn to see the mythical Nymphocula.

Email us! [email protected]

Links: