Three on the Ones and Twos

Today's guest is our friend Kevin Phillips, talking about one of our collective favorite bands, albums and artists - "What to say about such a complex and abundant subject that’s been a longstanding touchstone for aficionados of repetitive noise and abrasive melody! As a nearly life-long disciple of Mark E. Smith and his unrepentant arrangements, I chose The Fall’s debut album, ‘Live at the Witch Trials’, for our discussion. As hypnotizing or electrifying as the Fall became in dozens an...

Today's episode is with our good friend Blake Rainey regarding one of the greatest albums of all time, The Replacements "Tim": Ultimately, I chose the Replacements “Tim” because I knew it would be a lot of fun to talk about with Tom and James. Anyone who seriously loves rock n’ roll and indie music in general has had a relationship with the Replacements at some point, be it good or bad. They always felt like kindred spirits to me, growing up a lost and lonely wild-spirited teen in small-town ...

Our special guest on today's episode is our dear friend Melanie Harmon, who is also joined by Chad Wiener as a guest host as well. Melanie and Chad go back to our high school days of attending shows at the Masquerade in Atlanta, and all the fun, thrilling, scary, formative times we had. The Primus show around 1991 at the Masquerade was a legendary show that we have discussed on other episodes (e.g. Kelly Hester's Episode 37), but it was nice to revisit one of their great albums with a lifelon...

On today's episode, we have a conversation with our old friend (and James' oldest friend), Chad Wiener - along with special guest host Melanie Harmon! "Hailing from Matton, Illinois, the Didjits released their first album on Touch and Go, “Hey Judester,” in 1988. The world, or at least my small world, would not be the same. Gravitating towards any and all punk bands in the summer of 1989, the Didjits was one band that stuck out to me. They had attitude, humor, loud guitars, shrieking vocals, ...

Out guest on today's episode is our new friend Jacob Gunter @whereis.jacob, @moonage.music : Although Youth of America isn’t my favorite Wipers album, it holds a special place in the Wipers discography, particularly of their early work. Stylistically it feels transitional without any loss of conviction, almost as if Greg Sage is putting down stakes. Songs like Pushing the Extreme could be a repudiation of Punk’s abandonment of core principles, and with songs running past the 10 min. mark...

From our good friend and guest on today's show, Diane Coll: "Late 1979. Young teenage girl strolling by the local headshop/record store in LaGrange, IL spots an album in the storefront window. She buys it without hearing a song on it. I mean, who could resist the stark white backdrop and Chrissie's cool red leather jacket. Young girl goes home and has a full 47 minutes of jaw-dropping glee and empowerment. It was okay to be angry, to be vulnerable, to be sexual, and to be in charg...

Our guest for this episode is our good friend from Philadelphia, Jason Clouser "I picked Mush by Leatherface because I'd never heard of them before 5 years ago. Tom Cheshire introduced them to me. And this record instantly became one of my favorites . Frankie's a monster singer, beautiful lyricist and this record deserves to be talked about!"

Tom Cheshire provided the testimonial for one of our favorite bands and albums, I believe the first greatest hits compilation of our show, Ramones Mania! "Sometimes it's fun to break the rules, or just reinvent them. Although this isn't an album, RAMONES MANIA is a greatest hits record, it's the first Ramones record I bought. Later I bought every individual album. They were that important to me. Coming from their neighborhood, Forest Hills, Queens, New York, made me love them even more. Homet...

On today's episode, we talk to our friend Alli Yarbrough about Feel the Steel! "So the reason i chose this specific album, Feel the Steel, is because it got me thru the pandemic. I started listening to it in Oct of 2020 and it really made the rest of Covid bearable. I love that Steel Panther doesn’t take themselves too seriously; however, they are SERIOUSLY badass musicians. They used to be a Van Halen cover band called Atomic Punks, then Metal Skool and finally Steel Panther. Michael Star ha...

From our dear friend and guest on today's show, Chad LeBlanc: "I picked this record because when I first heard it at age 12 it completely changed everything for me. Musically it inspired me in countless ways - and it made me realize that puffy hair and good looking dudes weren't necessary to be awesome. They looked like dudes who hang out at the gas station and drink beer from quart bottles. Perfect. 80 is my single favorite piece of music of all time. Cheers!"