Vinyl Verdict

On this special episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell and Jamie have teamed up to pick two albums from Plouffe's collection! Bell picks Summer Salt's Happy Camper, their album from 2018. Jamie picks Primus' Frizzle Fry, released in 1990. The albums could not be more polar opposite! Will this be a rare occasion where the whole crew likes albums that Plouffe owns? Will we say Primus Sucks multiple times this episode? Come along and find out!

Quick content warning: Plouffe notes at the beginning of the episode that the lyrical content of the album features talk of sexual assault and suicide.

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, The Distillers Coral Fang. Their third studio album, and only major label release, Coral Fang  came out in 2003 to positive critical reviews. Stradling the line between punk and grunge music, the album produced three singles, two of which charted. The tour supporting the album went from 2003 to 2004 and when it ended, the band never released another studio album. Some controversy ensued because the album was recorded and released in the midst frontwoman Brody Dalle's divorce from her then husband, Tim Armstrong, the frontman for the punk band Rancid. Speculation swirled in both the media and the fanbases for both The Distillers and Rancid as to whether the album was about the divorce. The album was released with two different covers, one the original artwork by Tim Presley, and another 'safe' artwork which was sanitized for sale in stores such as Walmart. Will the boys stir up controversy with their verdicts? Come along and find out!

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, S U R V I V E's MNQ026 (HD015 for the vinyl release). S U R V I V E is a electronic band from Austin, Texas, formed in 2009. Two of their members, Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon went on to do the soundtrack score for the Netflix series Stranger Things. Completely instrumental, MNQ026 is made up of two parts spooky ambient sounds, one part space robot jams. Jamie has frequently teased the Vinyl Verdict crew about covering an album in the elusive Spacewave microgenre, but three questions remain about it. What is it? Who it is for? Is it any good? Come along as the boys hopefully provide at least one answer!

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, MGMTs Little Dark Age. Released in 2018, it is the band's fourth studio album. After their second and third albums were released to lukewarm receptions, the band took some time off and came back with the single for the track Little Dark Age in October 2017, releasing further singles up until the release of the album in 2018. The band stated that the album title was a response to the political and social climate in the United States, including the Trump presidency. Critical reception of the album was generally positive, with many publications praising it as a return to form for the band and several putting it on their Best of 2018 lists at year-end. Will the Little Dark Age leave the boys out in the cold or will they find the album light and fun? Come along and find out!

Content warning for this episode: we talk about hate crimes, sex crimes and spousal abuse. We also left the swears in. Come back to us next week for a not as spicy episode if any of that sounds rotten to you. 

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe talk about albums in their collections from artists who have bad things. Bell's pick, Kids See Ghost's only album, features notorious rapper Kanye West. Plouffe's pick is Queens of the Stone Age's Villains. Jamie's pick is Brand New's The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me. Listen to the boys discuss what makes these picks controversial, what the artist did, and whether you can really separate the art from the artist. Will we get cancelled for talking about them? Come along and find out!

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Jamie's next pick, Led Zeppelin's Untitled Fourth Album. Commonly referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, it was released in 1971. After reviews of the band's third album were lukewarm at best, Led Zeppelin sought out to make an album and give it no title, instead representing it by three hand drawn symbols by each member of the band. While this move was opposed by the record company, they eventually relented and released the album. Since its release, it has sold over 37 million copies, it is the bands greatest commercial success and it was their highest charting album, hitting #2 on the Billboard charts in 1971. The album was also well received critically, with many critics praising the songwriting and genre-defining hard rock and early heavy metal sound of many of the tracks. The signature track from the album was Stairway to Heaven, a song that had radio play over multiple genres of stations, despite not being released as a single and being nearly 8 minutes long. Has it been a long time since Vinyl Verdict rocked and rolled? Are the boys buying a stairway to heaven? Come along and find out!

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Bell's next pick, Green Day's American Idiot. Released in September 2004, American Idiot was somewhat of a departure for the band in that it was their first album that sought to tell a whole story, rather than just be a collection of songs. The album was an overwhelming success, spawning five singles that received a good amount of radio airtime and later, a musical based on the songs and characters of the album. The album later went on to sell 16 million copies and won a Grammy for Best Rock Album at the 2005 Grammy Awards. Critical reviews of the album were sort of all over the place, with some critics saying the story was not compelling and that the album, while aiming to have something to say about the current sociopolitical climate of America, succeeded in saying nothing. What will the boys have to say about it? Come along and find out!

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe talk about their favourite live albums. Bell and Plouffe bring two albums from the MTV Unplugged series - Courtney Barnett's Live in Melbourne, released in 2019 and Alice in Chains' MTV Unplugged, released in 1996. Changing up series and sounds, Jamie's pick is Sam Cooke's Live at the Harlem Square 1963, released in 1985. Join the boys as they discuss all three albums - what they like about them, what they look for in a live album and whether these records present a good value for collecting! Do these albums capture a moment in time for the crew? Come along and find out!

On this episode of Vinyl Verdict, Bell, Jamie and Plouffe listen to Plouffe's next pick, Aesop Rock's The Impossible Kid. His seventh album, it was released in 2016 to overwhelmingly positive reviews. Aesop Rock is known for using deep wordplay in his lyrics, where the listener is left to decide what the meaning is and many publications noted that this trend continued, but in a more introspective and personal direction.  Despite being released independently, the album was a commercial success as well, peaking at #30 on the Billboard 200, #2 on Billboard Independent albums chart and #3 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop albums chart. Will the boys put this album at the top of their charts as well? Come along and find out!