Bill and Brian discuss the almost lost masterpiece from Ryan Adams, Love Is Hell (2004, Lost Highway). Without a guest, we explore our own origin stories of listening to Ryan Adams before getting into the allure of a tortured artist, Ryan Adams' signature reverb/echo, which songs Ricky Fataar may or may not play on, the significance of the Hotel Chelsea, and more as we make our way through the album track by track!

Bill and Brian hang out with musician Nick Palmer (normally, we'd link to the band's website here, but Brian and I were discussing how awesome "Generation Gap" by WAX WAV is, so click this link and go watch the kickass video for it: https://youtu.be/kWNgGz9FPic) and discuss Fugazi's Repeater (1990, Dischord). All the prerequisite talk about punk and what it means to punk happens, but we also discuss Ian MacKaye and Guy Piccioto's politically/emotionally charged lyrics that are still relevant today and the awesome musicianship of the rhythm section, Joe Lally and Brendan Canty. This and more as we make our way through the album track by track!

Bill and Brian couldn't pick just a single album from Harvey Danger. With 3 excellently crafted LPs, we had no idea where to start, so we decided to discuss all 3 at the same time! Bill and Brian each pick a favorite song from Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone (1997, Arena Rock/London/Slash) King James Version (2000, London/Sire), and Little by Little... (2005, Phonographic/Kill Rock Stars) and talk about what makes each song great! And check out this week's sponsors: ZipRecruiter and Audible!

Bill and Brian list their top 5 albums they enjoy listening to while avoiding looking at the cover. This week's sponsor: ZipRecruiter!

Singer-songwriter and piano rocker Matt Cook (mattcookmusic.com) joins Bill and Brian to discuss Sufjan Stevens' The Age of Adz (2010, Asthmatic Kitty). Matt shares his story about discovering this album as he recovered from a coma (yes, seriously, it's a wild story!) and how he was won over despite not enjoying it at first. We get into Royal Robertson's influence on the album, whether or not to tag Sufjan with the 'genius' label, reevaluating our lives when faced with our own mortality, just what synth makes those sounds, and more as we make our way through the album track by track!

Bill and Brian get into the indie-pop bliss that is Nada Surf's The Weight Is a Gift (2005, Barsuk)! Bill talks about this album accompanying him on long drives home in NJ, and Brian breaks down his new knowledge about guitar effect pedals. And of course we have a track by track review, discussing this work by Matthew Caws, Daniel Lorca, Ira Elliot, Louie Lino, and Chris Walla.

Musician Tyler Plazio (tylerplazio.com) joins Bill and Brian to discuss Blink-182's seminal pop-punk album Enema of the State (1999, MCA). Check out this week's sponsor, forhims.com!

Musician and podcaster Chris Tull (Weekend Quality) joins Bill and Brian for one final episode in the old studio to discuss XTC's landmark album, Skylarking. We talk about the contentious relationship between main songwriter Andy Partridge and producer Todd Rundgren, the album's overarching theme of birth, life, and death, Colin Moulding's generous songwriting contributions, and Dave Gregory's idiosyncratic guitar-playing all while going through the album track-by-track. This episode sponsored by Songfinch and Zip Recruiter.

In a special summer episode, Bill and Brian call each other up to discuss the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy.

While Bill is vacationing with his wife and celebrating their wedding anniversary, Brian has decided to gaze shoe-ward with longtime friend Dan Drago of the 25 O'Clock Podcast, and producer, engineer, studio owner Alex Santilli of Spice House Sound. Together, we unpack My Bloody Valentine's 1991 opus Loveless. Alex offers insight into how an album that is technically incorrect can still sound wonderful, while Dan makes us believe that soulmates may actually exist! This weeks sponsor: ForHims