Indiecast - Our 1-Year Anniversary + Indiecast Hall Of Fame, Part 3

Episode Date: July 30, 2021

Time flies when you’re having fun: this week marks the one-year anniversary of Indiecast! Steve and Ian kick off the new episode with reflections of their highs and lows from a year of doing the show, and take a moment to thank all of the listeners who have engaged with the show and submitted questions.The meat of this episode has Steve and Ian revisiting the Indiecast Hall Of Fame, which is dedicated to honoring albums that are under-appreciated in the modern lexicon of indie rock. The new albums receiving honors include The Soundtrack Of Our Lives’ 2002 effort Behind The Music, Screaming Trees’ Dust, and more.In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Ian is paying tribute to Joey Jordison, the late Slipknot drummer who passed away earlier this week, and reminding fans to revisit the first Slipknot album. Steve, on the other hand, is prepared to start revving the engine of the hype train around Let Me Do One More, the new album from Illuminati Hotties that isn’t due until October.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Indycast is presented by Uprox's Indy Mix tape. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Indycast. On this show, we talk about the biggest indie news of the week. We review albums and we hash out trends. In this episode, we celebrate our one-year anniversary by inducting some of our favorite, underappreciated indie classics into the Indicast Hall of Fame. My name is Stephen Hayden, and I'm joined by my friend and co-host, Ian Cohen.

Ian, how are you? I'm just beyond excited to welcome the Indycast listener into the darker, more introspective sophomore year of indie. Like what other music critic cliches should we throw at this? Are we leveling up? Are we taking things in a darker direction? That remains to be seen. We either level up or we fail to live up to the expectations of our promising debut.

It could go either way. Or it could be a situation where our sophomore effort is underappreciated in its time. and then future generations will return to it and actually say that it's better than our first season. So anything could happen. Most likely it's going to be like the Room on Fire antics thing where it's like pretty much the same. That's true. That's true.

And, you know, I like Room on Fire more. Well, I don't know if I like it more, but I like it as much as this is it. So hopefully that portends well for us as we move into our Room on Fire slash Antics era on the show. But before we get to the looking ahead, I think we should just take a moment to recognize that we are one year in to the Indycast era. I think it's safe to say that we are the dominant brand in Indy Rock at this point. No one else is doing Indy Rock podcast.

There are no Indy Rock websites anymore. We are the only people out there waving the flag. We killed all of our competitors. So I think we should recognize the achievement of that. Yeah, I think we should just like actually like if you're if you're listening like and you're in it for the long haul like get prepared. And this episode is just us listing off enemies that we have smited over the past year. Trends that we have set like ways in which Steve and I have just permanently altered the trajectory of indie rock for years to come. But I think even before we get to the highs and lows like you know like as part of like the reissue anniversary cottage industry.

Is there a way, is there a way like we could repackage our first year, you know, like for the, for the reissued, the deluxe package or something like that? We got all this material on the shelf and, you know, we should, I don't know, maybe get stereo and mono mixes for the real heads. I like that. You know, I like to think that when people write think pieces about our first season, that they'll look at it as a document of what it was like to do an indie rock podcast during the pandemic, which I feel like it's sort of like doing a,

podcast about the Titanic, like right as it hits the iceberg. You know, like, and that's the part you're going to be covering. I mean, it was a weird time to be doing a music podcast

because, I mean, there were, there were stretches where there was not much going on. I mean, there's no touring, obviously.

Bands were holding records back because they were trying to wait out, you know, the slowdown in the industry, this shutdown. And now we're seeing it pick back up, although who knows what's going to happen. I mean,

I tend to think, I mean, we're not going to get shut down again. think with this delta variant are we i mean have i just jinxed us by saying that we we tend we tend to manifest things in the real world just by mentioning it on this podcast so like be very careful of what kind of juju you're putting into the air well i'm saying it's not going to shut down so i'm trying to actualize that and i'm actualizing people getting vaccinated wearing masks keeping this you know variant at bay and we can continue to move forward that that's my hope

Cole Beasley, Carson Wentz, if you're listening to Indycast, like, please get vaccinated. Are they not vaccinated? There's a lot of guys in the NFL. Like, this is really bringing out. Oh, yeah, that's right. Some specious stuff. Cole Beasley, like, what, you probably thought that was the guy from Dive or something like that.

Did you say, did you say Pete Wentz or Carson Wentz? I thought you said. Carson Wentz. Okay. You said Pete Wentz. Didn't you? I did not. I said Carson Wentz, dude.

Like, I'm a Philadelphia. of sports fan more so than a fallout boy friend despite what you know despite what people might think but my brain i heard pence so that's what threw me off a little bit i thought like oh is is like pete wince doing like a fallout boy like concept album about how getting a vaccination is a uh you know conspiracy by aliens to control our minds no they're on the they're on the hell of megatore right now with uh weezer and green day so they their ass needs to be out there oh man how about we talk about we talked about that tour yet. I'm surprised that it hasn't come up until now. Because it's been delayed. It was supposed to happen last year and, you know, much like

Weezer's out. Like at this point, I think we're just like kind of immune. Like I hate using that pun, but like kind of immune to any kind of Weasor news. Like nothing at all was going to move the needle. I suppose. Just like a Weezer Green Day fallout boy stadium tour, I think. There's something about that that, which by the way, if I, if I were to go to that, I'm sure I Probably rules. Yeah, I'd have a good time. But in the abstract, it just seems hilarious to me. There's something very funny about that tour, and I can't really put my finger on it.

I think all three of those bands have had such, you know, bizarre careers, great careers, wondrous careers, but also at times hilarious careers. I love thinking about all three of those bands. I did see. One of my great nature's healing moments is that I saw a commercial. for that tour like at 8 in the morning at the gym. And it's like, wow. Oh, right. They used to advertise like big shows like that on television.

Yeah. Wow. Look at that. That's going to get you up at the gym. Seeing, you know, 50-year-old pop punk guys with like pyrotechnics behind them and all that jazz. It sounds, it sounds sick. Yeah, exactly. Look, we kid because we love.

I mean, this is totally in our wheelhouse. sort of thing. But back to our anniversary for a minute. I mean, I think I think that we can both agree that like if it was a low that we were doing the show during the pandemic and it was often depressing to contemplate the music industry during that time, that a high for both of us is the indie cast community, the people who write into our show and, you know, they respond with, you know, they interact with us on Twitter. It's just been great to see those people, you know, the people out there who they want to talk to their friends about deer hunter, emo and jam bands, and their friends don't care.

So then they listen to our show and they can get a little bit of interaction in their mind for an hour a week. That's been really gratifying, wouldn't you say? Yeah, I mean, it's never at all lost on me how amazing it is to wake up like on Friday morning and like see people are like already talking about like stuff they heard. an indie cast or writing in. It's like, wait, y'all listen. Like, you guys are really listening to us and you have us, like, bookmarked and what have you. It's, I don't know. It's, it's, it's just really wild to think about it. And also the fact that, like, our myth, that, like, we have in jokes now and that, like, people are following and making callbacks. Like, it, I mean, there's,

like, always a part of me that thinks, you know what, this is, this isn't, like, like, most podcasts are, like, anything music related. It's like, this is going to flame out. after like a month. No one's going to care. And, you know, it would be fun, but, you know, there's no staying power to it. But, I mean, it's really the people who, like, you know, write into the mailbag and reference previous episodes that, like, keep this going. Oh, absolutely.

And, and again, it feels really nice to hear from people who like the show and to know that it means something to them. So, honestly, this is sincere, I think, on both of our parts. Thank you for listening. Thank you for writing. and it makes it so much fun and hopefully we can continue to do a fun show for you all in our troubled sophomore season.

Or not, maybe this is the one where we just turn on our fans. We make the anti-fame album. This is like our congratulations record. We're not playing the hits anymore, guys. No more emo, no more jam bands. We're talking about straight up 70s pro. Yep.

We're just going to drop acid before every episode. dribble, you know, dribble. I hope you guys like King Crimson. Oh, man. It actually sounds pretty awesome. I would be into that, I'd be into that pivot. I think we should mention quick that a huge album is coming out today, the latest Billy Ilish record. And we didn't get in an advanced stream, so we're not going to talk about it. In this episode, I think we're going to talk about it next week. And I'm curious to dig into this record, because I hope this is not impolite to say, but I feel like the singles have been pretty bad from this album. Am I being too harsh with that?

Yeah, speaking of like fraught sophomore albums that are reaction to fame, we consider ourselves to be, you know, one and the same with Billy Eilish. But I don't know if bad is the right term. Like, I think they're fine. I just think that what's fascinating to me about this album rollout is it kind of seems like we have like a kind of a potential flop on our hands like that I would never had expected because it's not like this she's been like wildly overexposed and releasing new stuff every like year. It's not like she's gone out of stuff.

I mean when I see like teenagers and young adults, she's still very much a fashion icon like and a style icon. That has not changed. But I just like how like how is this not like dominating, especially in this like less. leveled playing, this like leveled landscape where like nothing, like there aren't any like big new pop stars. Like I just can't figure this one out. Like as a, as, as, as, as, as, as, as, as, as someone who's like, like, more as just like someone who like is a forensic music person, you know, who likes to dissect narratives and see trends and so forth. I mean, I think the, I think the

answer your question is that the singles have just not been that great. I mean, you look at her first record, a song like Bad Guy, you can't really deny that song. It's like an earworm. You hear it. It's stuck in your head. You're hearing it come out of car, stereos, and, you know, at the gas station, and it's just an undeniable song. And I don't think that the song she's putting out so far for this record are approaching that. And they're also, like, not only are they not as earwormy, you know, they seem like they're trying to be earworms and they're just not hitting it. It's not like she's made the difficult second record that's more experimental, and that's why it's not hitting,

but you're also like, oh, this is interesting, though. In a way, like the Clero record that came out recently, like that's not as immediate, but in a lot of ways it's like an interesting second record. You can tell that she's going for something a little more introspective and maybe not as mass appeal as her earlier work. I don't know. I mean, we're judging this on the singles.

I'm curious to hear the record, hopefully the record, is much better than what we've heard so far, but I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this album. So I guess we'll find out when we get into it. We'll find out, yeah. Yeah, we don't get the advances. That's why we're indie cast and not pop-kines.

Yeah, that's true. I wonder, I mean, I haven't seen any reviews yet. We're recording this on Thursday. I assume that there's, if there was streams for, you know, the people hire up the food chain than us, that there must be some sort of embargo maybe for Friday but I don't know

we'll see what happens also you know in this quasi self-congratulatory tone so far I'd be remiss to not mention that the surreal experience of watching the Woodstock 99 documentary and seeing Stephen Hayden like right there on the screen

and you know that was an interesting experience because first and foremost, you know, my fiance, like, every, like the first time Moby gets on the screen, she points like, hey, it's you. That's not really her voice. I was going to say it was like a reunion, really, for us in that movie. Yeah, that's what I thought. It's like, hey, wait a minute.

Unlike the next Indycast visualizer, can we just like superimpose like Moby's face on mine and see if anyone notices, like, tattoos and all? But, you know, the one thing that she had brought up after the episode was over, because, of course, I'm going to ask like you so do you think Steve did a good job and she appreciated the fact that you were the one person who initially and then repeatedly pointed out that like the first woodstock was like also kind of a shit show right yeah I mean and that was a big thesis of my podcast that came out a couple years ago which is break stuff and you can go check it out if you want to hear that I don't think I was the only one I think Marine Callahan says something before me

about how there were riots and people died. And then I kind of go into my little spiel. But, yeah, I mean, it's been really great seeing the response. It seemed like a lot of people watched it. And I think the reaction has been largely positive. I mean, I've definitely seen criticism in my timeline from people, which I told myself I'm not going to respond to because I'm not the director of the film. It's not my place really to be a spokesperson.

for the movie. Garrett Price is the director, and just for the record, I think he did a great job. But he did an interview in Slate this week where he talked about the movie and he responded to some of the things that people have called out.

And the movie, things that people don't like. And I thought he did a really good job of responding to that. So I'll let him speak for that. But yeah, I'm just glad people checked it out. And if you haven't yet, it's still on HBO Max to stream. so give it a look and don't let me know what you think.

I don't want to hear you, unless it's giving me lots and lots of compliments, then I want to hear that. But other than that, yeah, thanks for watching it. And thank you to your fiancé. Yes. And you're getting married this year, aren't you? Yeah, October. Oh, my God.

Are we going to have a special wedding edition of Indycast? Yeah, right now we're putting together like, you know, playlist and whatnot. But I got I got to mention that like we we might be really inspired by the wedding we went to a few weeks ago where the bridal and groom party walked out the house of jealous lovers. So like this is this is a big time for us to like really embrace like what we want to put on our wedding. Um, our wedding playlist. And like gosh, I can only I can only imagine like what people would recommend. Like it's it's trust me. It's not going to be what you think. I do realize I have to. you know, there are people who aren't, like, emo fans who will be in attendance. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty much the only one. So, uh, this, I can imagine this is going to be a mailbag thing. Well, I imagine, like, the way I envision your playlist is that you'll start off with, like,

some tried and true, like, you'll have, like, cool and the gang celebration, which is, like, maybe the quintessential wedding song. And then, like, by, like, 1130, when most people have left and everyone has had, you know, a couple, two, three drinks. Then you'll be playing like, you know, the entirety of mirror my God. You know, you just put mirror my God on in its entirety. And, you know, that'll be like the end, like the sloppy end of the reception. That's my prediction.

God, we can only hope. Well, let's get to our mailbag segment. And this week, it's sort of like a meta question. And that it's commenting on our show. while also asking a direct question. And it comes from a friend of the show, Miranda, who is one of the hosts of another indie rock podcast. Although I don't think they would call themselves an indie rock podcast.

They're probably more of like a punk emo indie podcast. But they're called Endless Scroll. And I was joking earlier that there are no other indie rock podcasts. There are other shows. They're the only other one. Endless Scroll. Yeah. For now.

Yeah. We recognize Endless Scroll. And that's a show. It's hosted by four people in their 20s. And we're a show hosted by two people in their 40s. So if you add up the ages of each show's hosts, it's about the same amount. But we get there more efficiently on our show. But this is the question for Miranda.

Hey, Stephen Ian. Why do you think indie rock dudes all seem to think their favorite pitchfork 8.1 artists from 2011 should be sailing out arenas now. Big fan of the show. Miranda from Philadelphia. Good question Miranda. Miranda is referencing something that I think we often hear in our mailbag. People write in about a favorite of theirs from many years ago and it's often asking like is this person underrated? Why are they underrated? And they want to know like we've had lots of discussions about bands like this on our show. And she's poking fun at that a little bit,

but there's also, I think, a deeper question here. But I'm wondering what you have to say about this question. Yeah, I mean, I think this one kind of hits quite directly at one of the things I consider pretty much every single episode. But yeah, ambitious crossover event. Look, in terms that perhaps they can understand

for her and Gabe, you know, It's like this, why do people call into Philadelphia Sports Radio saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, Ben Simmons, he's garbage. And we also need to trade the Portland for Dame Lillard and C.J. McCall. I think they make that trade. You know, it's like you want to, this is the second, I'm bringing back the Philadelphia sports fan boys. This is one of my favorite, you know, one of the most beloved bits we have. But it, it's, you know, like if you're a fan of the sport and the sport being indie rock, narrative, you do a little armchair quarterbacking.

And yeah, so I think it's more of a semantic question, which is to say, like, you know, should they be playing these arenas or not? I think it's more that it's a sign of, like, empathy for people in the indie rock struggle. Because if you love these bands and, like, you want to see them succeed, like, I think what they'd be more than happy to see is these bands. playing like the 500 to a thousand capacity arena in any given city or like still be playing the festival circuit. When people of that age bring it up, it's more that they just want to see Elena

sustainability for these bands, which really doesn't seem to exist. Because, I mean, have you ever tried to write a song like or make an, like, that's really hard? And, you know, for the most bands in your local scene, like being, you know, the third opener for a 6.3 band at, like, the local 200-cap venue is, like, the peak of their career. If, like, you get written about on, like, one of the bigger, like, publications, you're, like, king shit in the town. Like, I've seen that many a time. And if you make, like, an 8.1, you know, whatever you want to call it type album, it's like, man, this album, like, how is this band not famous? are they not like successful it's not i think with music more so than like any other thing it's

i think people just don't see the connection between remuneration and uh and effort and so if especially if you like indie rock it's like people are going to stop doing it if there isn't like a lane of sustainability so i think in a way it just speaks to the main uh topic of indycast which is the inexorable march of time and people struggling with coming to grips with their mortality? Yeah, I mean, I think the issue that's lurking in the background of Miranda's question, which, I mean, she was kidding when she tweeted that at us, but I think there's a serious underlying point, which is about, I think the generational divide that exists between people like us who grew up at a time where it was possible to be an indie band or an underground band.

and actually sell millions of records or have a major place in the culture. And if you were born at the turn of the century, born in the late 90s or like right after the year 2000, you haven't really come up in an era where that was at all realistic. So to even complain about like your favorite band not being more popular than they are, I think to people of a certain age,

it just seems like a ridiculous thing to even care about. There's, I think, an acceptance now. more among probably younger listeners that, like, my favorite band is probably only going to play clubs, and that's perfectly okay with me because I like to see them in clubs, and it makes them more approachable, and it's a better fan experience. I will say, too, like on this show that we talk a lot about new music, but we also talk about records like we're going to do in this episode that we really love from the past that have been forgotten in some way.

And it really is kind of amazing, like the older you get and the more bands that you see that were really great and actually did have an audience for a certain period of time that just totally get pushed to the wayside. Like there's so few people that actually go the distance in terms of becoming a legacy act. And it has so little to do, I think, a lot of times, like with the quality of the bands. I mean, obviously it helps to be a great band, but there's also just the vagaries of fate. You know, there's so many things that can happen that just prevent you from being known outside of your moment. Although I will say that even having a moment is a great achievement. Like if you had a really great record in 2003, like that should be recognized. I mean, most bands don't even get to that point.

So, again, as much as we like to talk about new music on this show, I think there is something valuable. to recognizing those diamonds in the rough from the past that you can excavate and expose to a new audience. And they can hear this record that no one talks about it anymore, but we're going to talk about it. And hopefully they'll hear it and they'll enjoy it. Above all else, our tendency to remember some guys as a public service.

We're giving back to the community. And I mean that with all sincerity, because if not us who will remember some guys, you know? Well, and you brought up this point when we were, you know, just DMing this week about there's this, like, Pitchfork right now, they're doing a survey of listeners about the top 25 albums of the last 25 years. And I don't know if Pitchfork's going to do their own list to accompany that. I'm not sure what the plan is there. But you brought up a good point about how a lot of times with those lists,

they tend to default to the canonized albums that we all know and love. And with good reason. Like, if someone were to ask me, like, what's the best album of the last 25 years? You know, off the top of my head, I'd probably say something like, okay, computer. Or, you know, which is super canonized as an album, but I think it's a great record. It should be on that list. But sometimes it's more interesting to, like, actually not talk about the best albums, but like really great albums that are just unsung.

Yeah. One thing, like, if anyone remembers Stylus Magazine, like this is like hardcore remember some guys. A lot of people who I write with, my peers started out there. But we did a list like that where we did a vote for, you know, top 50, 100 albums of all time or whatever. And they just published 101 to 100 to 200. They published the second half, which was so fascinating.

Oh, that's clever. That's a clever idea. Yeah. Yeah. that's like yeah that's the thing for me it's like i always say it's like the 30s and 40s of any year end list that really tell you the story of that particular year but you know with this with this one yeah it's probably going to be like okay computer then frank ocean then another frank ocean then kendrit and you know which is great like that's it's a people's list but um yeah i think like

i find myself just completely paralyzed by putting together my own list because it's like how how can i like, it just seems like time travel. Like, how can I compare, let's say, like, turn on the bright lights? You know, and now am I listened to when I was like 22 and like taking New Jersey transit up to New York to like party with my friends who were just out of college and investment bankers? And like the first glass beach album, which I listen to way more often, but because it's more recent. So yeah, I, and it just cuts like, do I think about this strategically and just put on a bunch of email albums and no one's going to vote for?

It's like my brain ties and knots trying to reckon with this task, which would otherwise be so easy in the past. It's always a battle for me between picking what I think are the best records and what I think would be a more interesting list. And it's really hard to reconcile that because, yeah, on some level, yeah, you should just put the records on that you think are the best. And I think, oh, yeah, OK, computer to me is this impactful, influential, great record. But also, it's kind of boring to talk about at this point. And I say that as someone who wrote a book about Radiohead. And I like talking about Radiohead. But in a list situation where you're just writing a blurb, what are you going to say in a blurb about OK computer that hasn't already been said?

Whereas some of the records we're going to talk about today, I think, it feels a little fresh. It's like not as traversed territory to talk about. So maybe we should just get into it. And if you listen to our show, you know that we've done the Indycast Hall of Fame before. And at some point, I think we need to erect a physical building for the Indycast Hall of Fame. So people can visit it, take their children, and learn about the albums that you and I like that we've feel don't get enough attention.

Yeah. Have the plaques on the wall, like not platinum or gold, but like the one with like the used 699 sticker on it or something like that, like where you find a disco round or whatever your local UCD store happened to be. And I don't know if we would build this place in Minneapolis or in San Diego or maybe some other place in between. Yeah, maybe San Diego because like, as I always say, it's like San Diego is like a city that kind of lives in the past. It's like always

LA from 8 to 10 years ago. So maybe this, maybe that fits within the Indycast ethos of, you know, remembering some guys. That's true. In San Diego, they need more tourist attractions. So, put the Indicast home there. No one ever wants to come here to enjoy

the perfect weather and like location by the ocean. Well, that's why maybe we should put it in Minneapolis because we have the winter. And people are coming here to see Paisley Park. But But they can also swing by the Indycast Hall of Fame. Maybe we'll build that across the street.

Yeah. It's like when you put Burger King and McDonald's next to each other. Like, you know, that's the strategy. You want to consolidate. So you and I, we both picked two records to talk about today. So four records total. Why don't you go first? What's your first inductee?

All right. So with this 25-year cutoff, like, I wanted to make sure I had something from the past 25 years. And this one's just on the borderline. I want to first talk about a screaming trees album called Dust. Now, this is, I fear that this is where I'm going to lose, like, people who kind of know me as someone who talks mostly about, like, you know, modern emo. This one came out in 1996. I bought it because of, like, a really glowing four-star review.

And let me just tell you, screaming trees, like just a brief introduction. They are a band who quintessential kind of B-team grunge band. which is obviously like a very reductive way to think of them, but they had a hit song, nearly lost you on the single soundtrack, and it came out, which came out like a couple of months after Sweet Oblivion, the album from which it came.

And this is kind of proto-Indicast, not just because there are a band that, you know, teases out the extremely strong doors and Led Zeppelin influence in the Seattle scene. Like the way Seattle was framed was like just kind of a complete renunciation of classic rock, not at all the case. But I think what makes them like an Indycast favorite is that they just

had some really shitty luck. This record came out four years after their one and only hit really. And, you know, they had been through a lot of like industry rigomer roll. We should say that their hit has nearly lost you.

Yes. Which was on the single soundtrack and also on their record, Sweet Oblivion. Yeah. And so, you know, Mark Lanigan, he was the lead singer. guy who's been a great character actor in the darker rock world in the time since. If you see the videos, like, one of the story, the story that they always tell is that, like,

labels didn't know what to do with them. They have, like, two really hulking brothers in there in the band. And, like, you would read stories. Mark was like, labels would tell me, yeah, man, get rid of one of the fat dudes and then we can talk. And, yeah, it's like, yeah, it's like, yeah, because a lot of people like grunge, you know, they might be anti-rock stars, but they were. constantly shirtless. But yeah,

Dust is an album that, you know, contrary to the one, it's kind of part of this 1995-96, what happened with All-Rox. You got Black Love,

another Indycast Hall of Fame, like this urge over kills Exit the Dragon, these like Pinkerton, even these like darker follow-up albums that took things in a more muted

and mystical direction. And this album, you know, takes away some of the more noisy, grungy parts and just leaves, like, in the mid-90s, like, a very unfashionable album that is based in, like, real deal classic rock. They have a song called Die in Days on there, you know, which it sounds like Led Zeppelin. And also, I have to give a shout out to this album because the final song in this record is called Gospel Plow. It's a take on, I guess,

like, an old, like, spiritual or whatever. And, you know, this being 1996, and I love this record, I made gospel plow, like my AOL screen name. Wow. Yeah. In the early days, I got like a lot of weird communications from like religious-based people because they assumed that I was like, you know, evangelical Christian. It's like, no, I like this obscure screaming trees song. But yeah, this is a record that I can't imagine coming out now or it could come out now

and just sound like super duper fresh, you know. It's like the best Kings of Leon album. with like the vocal scrued and shop that you could possibly imagine. Yeah, that's a great analogy there. Yeah, I second this recommendation. I also want to do a quick shout out to the first Mark Lanigan solo record, which came out in 1990 called The Winding Sheet. And I think it's my favorite thing that he's ever done.

It sounds a lot like the unplugged record that Nirvana made three years later. There's actually a cover of Where Did You Sleep Last Night on that record that Kirk Cobain sings on. So if you're looking for the roots of Nirvana Unplugged, check out the winding sheet by Mark Lanigan, like really good, just gloomy grunge folk record. But yeah, I also love screaming trees and I love dust. That's a great recommendation.

Great inductee. Welcome to the Indycast Hall of Fame. Yes. My first inductee is a record called Behind the Music by a band from Sweden called The Soundtrack of Our Lives. And this is a band. They're a six-piece band, like I said. They formed in 1995, broke up in 2012.

This band is basically classic rock, the band. Like, half the songs sound like Pink Floyd. The other half sound like The Who. There's a little bit of, like, late period Beatles in there, like, Abbey Road era Beatles. I own several of their records, but behind the music to me is, like, easily the most consistent and I think the most essential. So, like, how I've described them so far sounds like it's up your alley. Definitely head to this record.

I feel like this is a good example of something we were talking about a couple of minutes ago of a band having their moment and actually being kind of big for like a little bit and then getting pushed aside. Like the soundtrack of our lives. They were nominated for a Grammy for this record, like for Best Alternative Record. Like an American Grammy? Yeah. It was 2003. They were nominated for a Grammy. They toured with Oasis.

there was quite a bit of hype for this record because it was originally released only in Sweden in 2001 and it got a lot of great press and people were buying it on import for a while which again that's another thing that is totally antiquated and I feel like even 2001 feels like a little late

for people to be spending $30, $40 for an album on import seeing us how this was we were thick in the lime white or Khasa era by then, but it became a phenomenon just from that. And I think in some respects

it had some negative backlash because of that. Like I read the pitchfork review on the record. And pitchfork, I mean, this is like the probably like most antithetical thing to like what pitchfork would have liked in 2001.

They gave it and they hated it. They gave it a 3.0. And I feel like to some degree that's why this band may be hasn't been put in the canon because Pitchfork now is one of the canon makers of modern music writing and this is not a band that would ever be hyped by them

and they're not quite famous enough to end up like on a Rolling Stone list so it just ends up being like a really great record that falls through the cracks and even though it had its moment it went away and look I mean as I described it earlier this record is pretty derivative

I mean, you're not going to this record for originality. But in terms of songwriting and just like a kick-ass rock record, I put it up with like a lot of the great albums of the early aughts. And it's interesting to compare this to what was going on in New York at that time, like with the strokes and Interpol, who were also very derivative bands as well, but just drawing from like a different period in rock history. Also the soundtrack of our lives, the members of that band,

they didn't look like Julian Casablancus. They were sort of like how you set dudes with beards. So, you know, again, similar to the screaming trees example, I guess. I mean, they were not like the most maybe photogenic people, but they rocked and they were a great band.

And this is a record, I think, that if you're into that classic rock revival, if you're into that classic rock revivalism, this record's going to be up your alley if you don't already know it. Yeah, truth be told, but I think I got these guys confused with the shout out louds.

And this album cover is very similar, I think, to a spiritualized record that came out around the same time. It is. I remember seeing it on the shelf at our radio station and never listened to it. But yeah, the imports, 2001. I mean, that was like kind of the last time because, like, I would be getting like a lot of British albums,

like Elbow and Travis. And, you know, this, yeah, this is the kind of record that, like, is pure Indiecast Hall. fame because it's this is like an album that was allowed to succeed at like a pretty high level like and and you look at it in the context of strokes or even the vines it's like you know who the heck are these guys but you know they open for a oasis you know granted 2002 three oasis but still and you know that would have put them in the arenas you know they would have been playing like large venues and

again i think they were looked at it as a band that maybe was going to be able to build a career and it just didn't really happen in America for them. Behind the music was their peak, but I was listening to it again this week. I think it really holds up. All right. So, oddly enough,

the one I want to talk about next comes from this same era of just bands who were able to succeed by just kind of riding the tide of the new rock revival, if you will, but kind of taking it from a different direction. Now, if you follow me on Twitter,

you know that, like, Every now and again, I'll, like, pop up with hours, O-U-R-S, hours. I've never really had to say it out loud. Hours distorted lullabies. Now, this album celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. I've let my people down by not doing a 20th anniversary piece on it. This one is such a fun, time-stamped record to talk about, because the lead singer, Jim Enoch, he was Jeff Buckley's guitar tech,

and he sings exactly like Jeff Buckley. Obviously, you know, Jeff Buckley had passed by that time after a few years. And this is a vestige of a time when it was kind of normal for like rock singers, like male rock singers to try to get on their like Jeff Buckley shit, like, vis-a-vis the bends. I mean, like Tom York sort of popularized the Jeff Buckley sound, if that makes any sense. But this album is like stated. the art, American new radio heads. See, a lot of the new radio heads came from Britain. And not obviously

like new radio head meant sounding like old radio heads, Circa of the Benz. And so this one was just the most slavish, enthusiastic rip-off of the Benz. You could possibly imagine it had that Steve Lily White production. It sounds like a roaring jet plane. It's, it sounds incredible. And this, it takes itself so, so seriously, which I think is like the fun of talking about it now. But, you know, the songwriting is actually pretty strong. The production is incredible. And also, just to hear someone try to sing like that, like, I think maybe the new rock revolution killed the idea of, you know, aside from, say, Matt Bellamy of Muse, trying to like be operatic or kind of diva-like. And, you know, the way I remember this album, or I remember this band in general, like, if, Steve, the next documentary you do got to be about Field Day in 2003. There was this big festival that was supposed to happen on this nature preserve in New York.

It got moved to Giant Stadium. Complete disaster. It rained that day. And I remember the first band I saw that day was ours, and they were in a parking lot. Like they played in the giant stadium parking lot. This was after their second album, Precious, which came out, and I believe 2003, produced by Ethan John. It's got some decent songs.

It has a Femphital cover on it. I love that title, too, Precious. Like, you're just teeing it up for the rock critic with that one, you know, when you call your record Precious. Yeah. So, yeah, this album is just like, it is so corny. But, like, at the same time, it reminds me of just what it was like to be a captive audience, to MTV or radio and just be like, hey, this, I kind of like this song, not even think about it

critically at all, and just still kind of enjoy it as like rock trash. Yeah, I mean, this is a great inductee for us because this is the type of band that I think in the moment would have annoyed a lot of people for the reasons that you're talking about. But now that a record like this that just benefits from like a huge major label budget, so it sounds amazing. Dreamworks. That's how you know it's 2001. And there's something almost like wistful about listening to a record like this because you're like, oh, this doesn't exist anymore. It's the same reason why I've really come to love like the usual illusion albums by Guns and Roses

because there's no way any rock band's ever going to be able to spend millions and millions of dollars on music that grandiose ever again. So it's just you want to savor it in retrospect. I was just looking at photos of Jimmy Neko. They're great. And he kind of looks like Jeff Buckley cross with like Vincent Gallo. So it's like, which seems like a good summation of his personality maybe in the early odds. But God love him.

God love this angel voice diva from ours, this beautiful stuff. Great inductee there. My final inductee, it's probably the least well-known of the four records that we're talking about. It also comes from a little bit later on in the Outs. We just talked a lot about records released sort of at the turn of the century, late 90s, early 2000s. This album came out in 2009. It's called When the Devil's Loose, and it's by A.A. Bondi. And this is a guy, you might know this guy under a different name.

He used to play in a band in the 90s called Verbena. remembering some guys in like the most profound way. Yeah, we're going like multiple levels of remembering some guys here. Verbena was a band that I think you could describe as being like a Nirvana rip-off in the 90s. That's exactly how you would describe them. Even their name kind of sounds, it almost kind of almost rhymes with Nirvana a little bit. But anyway, in that band, he was known as Scott Bondi. And they did okay in the 90s and then they fizzled out by the end of the,

the decade. And then 10 years later, he comes back with a completely different sound. Now he's playing singer-songwriter Americana music, and he's going as A.A. Bondi. And he puts out a record in 2007 called American Hearts that definitely has that like Towns Van Sant slash like early Wilco sound to it. Not a piebald cover. Let's just make that very clear to the typical person who listens for me to talk about like emo shit. And A.A. Bondi, I mean, he never became like a big star off of that first record, but he got some notoriety. There's one of the best songs on that record is called I killed myself when I was young. And that song is featured in a very important sports scene in Friday Night Lights. Like it's played during like a football game. It's a pretty memorable scene and

they use the song very well. Also, A.A. Bondi is a total Friday Night Lights type artist. He totally fits in the wheelhouse of like the type of music that they used on that show. So he puts out American Hearts in 2007. When the Devil's Luce is his second record comes out in 2009. And I actually think it's his best record. And it levens the more austere folk sound of American hearts with this really great kind of like almost like Southern Soul meets Slowcore type instrumentation. It's very spare, but it sounds amazing. I mean, it really sounds like you're in a small room listening to like a three-piece band playing.

And I really think that it's one of the better Americana albums of the era. And again, this was a time late 2000s where, you know, obviously Fleet Foxes was ascendant, Boni Vare with Ferrema forever ago, that was a huge record. So there was a lot of, you know, beardy, indie folk going on at the time. And A.Bondi was coming at it, I think, from like more of a southern perspective, a little less psychedelic than some of those other bands, a little more stripped back. And when the Devils Luce, I think did pretty well as well. But again, it didn't totally crush it. And then by his next record, 2011, it's called Believers. He moved more into like the slow core direction

and started to shed some of the Americana signifiers. And it just seemed like maybe the moment had passed, and we've talked about this many times on this show, that by the early 2010s, you saw a pretty dramatic shift in indie rock away from, again, this Americana thing, and also like the Brooklyn art rock thing that was going on, to more of a pop thing. And it really, I think, leveled a lot of the middle class of artists who were in that scene. And I think he was a part of that. And it was another eight years before he put out a record. he put another album in 2019 called Enderness.

But yeah, he's just the guy, he's a mysterious guy, too. I think he's laid pretty low. But I don't know, this seems like a record that's ripe for rediscovery. I revisited it for this episode. And I really think it's like one of like the better, I guess, singer-strung writer Americana type records to come out of this era. So when the devil's loose, check it out. Also check out American Hearts.

I think that's a really great record too. A.A. Bondi. Yeah, we should also point out that this is not the guy who got knocked the fuck out by Jack White. Like, I feel the-al-Bondie's guy. No, not the Von Bondi's guy. What was his name, the singer? The Bondi's guy who got knocked the fuck out by Jack White. That's the name I know has.

To my knowledge, A-A-Bondy, and again, it's A-period-A-period Bondi, has never gotten into a fight with Scott. As far as I know, A-period, A-period Bondi, A-A-Bondi, He's never got into a fight with Jack White. But maybe he did, and that's why we haven't heard from him. Maybe he got knocked out. Maybe he's still laying into the Detroit bar at this point. All right, we've now reached a part of our episode that we call Recommendation Corner, where Ian and I talk about something that we're into this week.

Ian, why don't you go first? Yeah, so I first just want to give an RIP to Slip Knot drummer, or former Slipknot drummer. He had to leave the band because of medical illness, Joey Jordison. just incredible drummer. I remember he would talk about having to run like five miles or something like that before he could even like sit down and play his drums because it was just so strenuous and he needed to, you know, just get himself amped up like that.

So he passed away at the age of 46 this week. And, you know, there's a lot of new metal talk in the air right now. A lot of it, you know, due to Woodstock 99 and just maybe just a reconsideration. its pros, its cons, but, you know, my recommendation is to go back and listen to the first Slip-Nit album, like the self-title, not the one, like, mate-repeat that came out beforehand, but that first album, like the best of new metal, it just sounds completely unmoored from everything else in the rock canon. The drumming is just incredible because, like, it's him, just a very sick technical drummer and also, you know, a guy banging on kegs. But, you know, just

the anger, the songwriting, like the hooks, I think, uh, just still sounds super newper fresh. Um, I just think it will shock you to actually go back and hear like, and just imagine what it must have been like in 1999 to hear a record like Slipknot self-titled, even with all the other things coming out like at that time to just hear it again with new ears. Um, you know, that I would say slip knots like first out. Like I say this as like honestly as possible. It is, it's like a must listen for anyone who's cared about like the direction heavy music whether rap or rock has taken in the time since also iowa slaps too people equal shit is just watch the live video of that one that's they used for the official video has anyone made a documentary or

written a book about slipnot uh i imagine i wonder that they seem like a band that's ripe for like a deep dive because everything about them their music and the mythology around the band. It's a very interesting band. I would love to see a deep dive on them. And maybe this will be a catalyst for that if that hasn't already happened. Let's see.

There's Slipknot inside the sickness behind the mask. It was written in import, 2001. Introduction by Ozzy Osbourne afterward by Gene Simmons. That sounds like it's maybe a quickie book that capitalize on their success. I'd like to see something now. I mean, it would be, you know, to talk about their background. Because I don't know, I don't know a ton about their background,

but the music I've heard I've enjoyed, and I think they're a fascinating band. Yeah. So, but yeah, RIP to Joey. I also am going to do an RIP for a bass player. I mean, we have a bass player and a drummer, so like an incredible rhythm section in a recommendation corner. This is a Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, who passed away this week at the age of 72.

And Zizi Top is a band that I feel like has gotten its due more so in the last several years, but they still seem like a little underrated to me. But really they are like one of the most consistent and powerful rock bands from America to emerge from the 70s. And really, like if you want to dig into their catalog, I would recommend pretty much any album they put out in the 70s

and then up through their big album Breakthrough in the early 80s Eliminator. And if you listen to the 70s stuff, it's just kick-ass bluesy rock with an amazing guitar player, Billy Gibbons, and just like a rock-solid swinging rhythm section. Like, it's a heavy-sounding band. Like, I know, like, when I say bluesy rock from the 70s,

some people might roll their eyes at that a little bit, but this is, like, powerful, riffy rock music. There's a reason why, say, like, Josh Ome of Queens of the Stone Age, started hanging out with Billy Gibbons years later, because there's definitely a connection between what Zizi Top was doing, and I think, like, the hard rock and even the metal of the future. Zizi Top, to me, I think, is somewhere in the DNA of that kind of music. And then, of course, you have Eliminator, which comes out in 1983,

and that's the source of some of the most famous Zizi Top songs, like Sharp Dressed Man and Give Me All Your Lovin, Songs like that. And you go back to it, and it really is like a work of like 80s rock genius, because you have, on one hand, this kick-ass rock band. And then they're also integrating like synth pop into what they're doing in a way that feels totally organic. It doesn't seem like they're just, you know, catering to the trends of the time. They found a way to do it in a way where it sounded heavy and, you know, of a piece of what they were already doing. but it also made their songs more accessible and it allowed that album to go through the roof.

So if you only know the singles or the music videos, I would recommend, like, give Eliminator a try. I think that record actually sounds more contemporary than you might think it does. And then go back to the 70s records because they're amazing too. Yeah, what would the modern equivalent of like an Eliminator be?

That would have to be like a band from like the early 2000s coming back with like a, minimal pop, like, rebrand. I mean, I think the Sergio Simpson record sound in fury, seem like him trying to make Eliminator. Yeah, but he's been popular. I'm talking about, like, a popular, like, they just completely reinvent themselves

after, like, going completely out of fashion. Well, I'm very... I mean, that's what Kings of Leon needs to do. We need to get Kings of Leon on the Eliminator train. I think they would be the band that, like, okay, let's get them together with, I don't want to say Jack Antonoff. Yeah, let's just say Jack Antonoff.

Some pop producer who could both encourage them to write really riffy songs and then also put like synths in there. That'd be pretty amazing, actually. Maybe this is what we're going to actualize in this episode, something like that happening, because I'd be all over that record. If they pulled it off as well as Zizi Top did with Eliminator, I think a Kings of Leon pop record with lots of synths on it could be kind of cool.

Anyway, that seems like a good note to end on here. So why don't we say goodbye to everyone? Thank you for listening to this episode of Indycast. We'll be back with more news and reviews and hashing out trends next week. And if you're looking for more music recommendations, sign up for the Indie Mixedape newsletter. You can go to uprocks.com backslash indie. And I recommend five albums per week and we'll send it direct. directly to your email box.