Unsung Podcast

di Unsung Podcast

Episode 117 - Sing Sing Death House by The Distillers, with Anna Goldthorp

After last week’s vote ended in 100% of people agreeing that Mule Variations should go into the discography, we thought we’d return to punk and cover Sing Sing Death House by The Distillers. We also welcome back Anna Goldthorp! The Distillers only released 3 albums in their career, and people generally tend to look more favourably on their 3rd (and to date, final) album Coral Fang. But this week Anna and Mark are here to argue Sing Sing Death House is not only unsung but also the band’s best record. On this episode, aside from going into the band’s limited back catalogue, we spend a good chunk of time talking about how influential Brody Dalle is, why The Distillers were an important band in the early 00s, and her legacy. As we’re now recording remotely, we’re still sorting out a few things on the audio side, so this episode may sound a little strange in places. Sing Sing Death House - unsung classic? You decide.

Episode 116 - Mule Variations by Tom Waits

It’s difficult to imagine a world without Tom Waits. You may not be a fan, or even at all familiar with his music, but he’s been such a well known cult musical figure for so long that he’s taken on an almost mythical air. And mystical. And mythological. Basically, anything that starts with m and ends in al. That’s largely because he remains something of an enigma. An intensely private person, fans only really know him through his music, and his music is weird. This week Chris brings his 12th studio album Mule Variations to the table, obstinately proclaiming that it is an unsung classic. We try to give his entire 16 album catalogue a once over and manage to drag this our discussion to a conclusion in just over an hour and half. If you’re not a fan of Waits, it’s unlikely this episode will do much to change your opinion, but hey, you might just learn something in the process. Is Mule Variations an unsung classic? Only you can decide.

Episode 115 - Ausserwelt by Year of No Light

We may very well be doubling down on the post-apocalyptic vibes this week, but it’s apt. So sue us. This week, we get back on track with Ausserwelt by French post-metal sextet, Year of No Light. Weaver’s back in the game, although as we’re now in lockdown, we recorded this one remotely. Which seems like it’ll be the story for the foreseeable future. We do a bit of a deep dive on Year of No Light, and touch upon some of the other projects their members have been involved in. An unsung band for sure, are Year of No Light worth of a spot in our discography? You know exactly what to do, folks!

Episode 114 - The Panthemic Mixtape

Well, it happened. We knew the day would come. We knew there would inevitably be a point where we wouldn’t be able to get into the same room together and it’s taken a goddamn pandemic to make that happen. So here we are. Our first ever remote episode. And almost certainly not our last. As fans will know, we were originally scheduled to do Ausserwelt by Year of No Light this week. However, Dave was feeling a little poorly so we decided to do something else. Chris and Mark sat down to have a wee chat about their post-apocalyptic anthems. It’s been a rough few weeks for pretty much all of humanity, but we decided we wanted to solider on because hey, it’s not like we’re doing much else at this point in time. To wit; we picked a few songs each, dispensed some thoughts on coronavirus and basically tried to make these bleak times seem a little less bleak. By talking about bleak music. Go figure. We don’t know what the future holds for us in terms of getting together to do this podcast, but we’re committed to keeping this whole sorry affair going remotely for the time being. We’d love it if you chatted to us too, so hit us up on socials or fire us an email. We hope to return to our regularly scheduled programming next week. Funky sound in tow. In the meantime, stay safe, stay at home and wash your hands.

Episode 113 - Static Age by the Misfits, with Anna Goldthorp

Almost lost to the sands of time (well, in an official sense), Static Age was the first album the Misfits ever recorded, before being ditched save for a few singles and the occasional re-recording of some songs by primary (at the time) songwriter Glenn Danzig. The album lived on though in what seemed like an endless tape copy circle amongst fans. They would later go onto double down on the horror gimmick to record and release a “proper” debut album in 1982 called Walk Among Us, and for years fans clamoured to hear what they recorded all the way back in 1978. Their dreams came true in 1996 when it was released as part of a new boxset, and it seemed to live up to the hype. Indeed, some even say that if this was released as intended it may very well be remembered as one of the most important punk albums ever written, and a highlight from the punk’s first wave. Misifts are almost certainly not an unsung band - their logo and the famous “crimson ghost” image is iconic. But is Static Age unsung? You decide.

Episode 112 - Pod by The Breeders

The perfect antidote to SHOUTY ANGRY MUSIC is to do something a little more…melodic. And iconic. Which is why we’re doing Pod, the debut album by The Breeders. Something of a supergroup, The Breeders were formed when Kim Deal, feeling unfulfilled by her role in The Pixies, decided to put a band together to showcase the material she’d written. After sending a demo tape to 4AD, the rest is history. Recorded by Steve Albini at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh, it’s a stunningly consisted, and assured, debut. Even Steve thinks this is one of his best records! It is an album that is, by all accounts, pretty bloody good. But is it their unsung classic? You decide.

Episode 111 - Unsilent Death by Nails

How do you get as far away from dance music as possible? You choose a powerviolence album. And guess what? Weaver fucking loves Nails and Orbital. The many truly has the widest music taste in all the land. Yes, this week Mark pulls the trigger on powerviolence/crust/grindcore stallions Nails. As far as bands of this ilk go, they are somewhat of an anomaly. After gaining the attention of the mainstream music press shortly before the release of their third album ‘You’ll Never Be One Of Us’, Nails have gone on to create a buzz for themselves. Sometimes for the right reasons, and sometimes for the wrong reasons. We go into both during this episode. Somehow we end up talking about the band for over an hour. Which is actually longer than their entire discography. Go figure. ‘Unsilent Death’ is their first album. It’s quite an angry affair, truth be told. But don’t hold that against it. They’re a band with one emotion and two(ish) speeds. You’ll either love it or hate it. Is this album their unsung classic? Is it even an album? As ever, you decide.

Episode 110 - The Middle of Nowhere by Orbital

Dance pioneers Orbital are perhaps more influential than you might think. Yes, they’ve headlined Glasto, and yes they’re practically household names to anyone who enjoyed getting a bit squiffy in a warehouse in the 90s, but they never really reached the same popularity as many of their peers. And it appears they liked it that way. Which is fine! This week Weaver brings their fifth album The Middle of Nowhere in for a good going over. Which is exactly what we do. We touch upon the 90s dance scene they came from, their legacy, their peers and more. Is this album unsung? You decide.

Episode 109 - The Britpop Mixtape (Side B)

The time has come to talk about three albums that we think are good Britpop albums. If you could even call some of them Britpop albums… Chris chose ‘I Should Coco’ by Supergrass, which is definitely a Britpop album. Mark chose ‘Everything Must Go’ by Manic Street Preachers, which is not a Britpop album, but is often considered one, and is even categorised as one in wikipedia. Weaver chose ‘Blur’ by Blur, which is not a Britpop album, but is an album by a leading Britpop act. It’s really where the band shed its skin and went into more lo-fi, indie rock territory. All of these choices prompt some healthy discussion, which we won’t spoil for you hear. Needless to say though, it’s actually quite good natured all round! Which is the best, most Unsung Britpop album? Only you can tell us.

Episode 108 - The Britpop Mixtape (Side A)

So, Britpop eh? To say that each of us approached this mixtape with trepidation would be an understatement equal in size to how badly the British government fucked up Brexit. That is to say, the fear was big, ugly and all too real. Which is mostly understandable on Chris’ part as he experienced it first hand. Mark and Weaver were still aged in the single digits when the whole sorry mess began. Yet it still somehow permeates their memories like a splinter you just can’t quite get a hold of with a pair of tweezers. Tortured similes aside though, there’s something to be said about researching something you feel indifference to - you have substantially more objectivity. Indeed, just as history is mere narrative arranged by people that swallow facts for a living, we gave this topic a mighty good once over. The result? It could very well be one of our best episodes yet. No bullshit. In fact, we had to split this bugger in two, so exhaustive was our appraisal of this pseudo-nationalist “genre”. On this episode we talk about the history of the genre; how it started, why it started, the marketing, the social context, the impact it had etc. Then we talk about some of the bands and some of the tunes. Look, if you like our schtick you’re gonna love this schtick. And we’re really not that harsh on the “genre” either!

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