Unsung Podcast

Four people with a bunch of songs each is, as it turns out, a whole lot of songs to talk about. That's why Mitch's Movie Mixtape is split into two parts. Across both episodes, the first of which you can find here, we chat about our favourite needle drops in films. We also talk about why they work and also chat more generally about film. Mark even drops some film theory on these poor folks.

Modern post-punk music (the post-punk revival revival?) has a fair few acts that all indulge in sprechgesang and sprechstimme vocals. From Dry Cleaning and Squid to Idles and Fontaines D.C., there's a whole lot of artists out there using the same vocal technique that Sue Tompkins deploys effectively on Any Other City. In part two we chat about modern examples of this sound, including a bunch of post-hardcore and punk bands that do it too. Then we dive headlong into Any Other City itself.

In part one we chat a little about Life Without Buildings and their origins. In doing so, we're forced to reckon with the particular vocal style of Sue Tompkins. In some quarters it's been quite divisive (there's a particularly bad NME interview that is a good example of this) but really her style is part of a much longer and larger legacy, one that is still very much alive and kicking to this day. Yes, we're talking about spoke-sung artists, or more specifically the vocal techniques of sprechgesang and sprechstimme. In the latter half of this episode we go on a little journey through history to really show how these vocal styles have been a part of popular music for a very long time.

With our levels of existential dread reaching the normal level following our episodes on The Haxan Cloak, we thought we'd stick on the movie theme but go in a completely different direction for this week's From the Vault episode. We're going back to pandemic times and revisiting our excellent two part movie mixtape with our good friend Mitch Bain. We chat about our favourite needle drops in films in Side A. Genuinely hilarious stuff. Go listen!

We wrap up this week's dual episodes on The Haxan Cloak with Mark going deep into the Returnal soundtrack, doing a quick drive-by on the Beef soundtrack, touching on a couple of other movie scores, before taking Excavation on in its entirety. Due to the hype around Excavation when it came out, we go on quite the tangent about PR in music. We discuss how there seemed to be very little in the way of critical feedback on this album, and in doing so we explore whether or not this album actually has a narrative at all, or if the narrative simply exists because it was created by the press to give the media something to hang its hat on when talking about the album. We're not saying we start to question the meaning of music, but we do get damn close to it.

Diving deep into the discography of R.E.M. rapidly turned into a sorta of existential torture, particularly as we got towards the end of their career. So what did we decide to follow it up with? A journey into what existential despair may ACTUALLY sound like with The Haxan Cloak. Under the guise of The Haxah Cloak, Bobby Krilc has only released two albums, three EPs and, more recently, a single. In this episode we take a brief look at the first, self titled, Haxan Cloak record and those EPs, before turning our attention to Bobby's soundtrack work. A fair more eclectic and overall less abyssal oeuvre. In part one we cover a selection of his output up until the soundtrack of the (frankly stunning) game Returnal.

This week's From the Vault episode is from the pre-pandemic days when we were starting to get into the flow of how this show goes. There's still a few rough edges, but the dynamic and banter are all here. There's some particularly spirited debate in this episode where Chris talks about one of his favourite albums ever and Mark absolutely detests every single note of it. But hey, that's one of the things that makes this show so much fun to listen. And so little fun to actually record... There's also a tangential link to R.E.M. in this episode too, so it really does all tie together this week. Any suggestions of episodes you'd like to see us pull from the vault? Let us know!

Well, we did it. We got to the end of R.E.M.'s discography and now we turn our attention to the album that started this journey in the first place - New Adventures in Hi-Fi-. Chris explains to us why he thinks it's unsung classic, and grapples with the possibility that his choice may not have been the right one. And as ever, we drop the nexus too. See ye next week!

R.E.M. never really chased superstardom, and yet they found themselves thrust into it in the mid-90s. Last week we ended by talking about Green and Out of Time. In part three we chat about Automatic for the People and Monster, before diving into the records they made after drummer and founding member Bill Berry left: Up, Reveal, Around the Sun, Accelerate and Collapse Into Now. This episode's the longest of all four parts precisely because we cover so much ground. We try to give each album a fair hearing before we circle back to Chris' choice of New Adventures in Hi-Fi in part four/Side D. There's a ton of samples of this, and it soon becomes clear that without Berry and dimming commercial appeal, that they were starting to become a little bit listless. Hope you enjoy getting stuck into it!

2017 was a much simpler time. Both for society and for this podcast. Every Thursday we'll be putting out an old episode and to mark the occasion we thought it'd be good to revisit the very first episode: The Remote Part by Idlewild. The episode lengths were shorter, we were all younger, fresher, more naive. Oh and we still had three hosts. Dave was a fixture from the very beginning and we miss him dearly. We used to record four episodes in one night at a friend's recording studio in the south side of Glasgow. We also miss that place dearly, too. We also didn't do as much of a deep dive into our chosen artist like we do now. Like we said, a simpler time. Hope you enjoy this insight into the early days of Unsung.

Welcome to part two of our R.E.M. series! Now that the context is out the way, we dive headlong into their discography. In Side B we talk about all the records the released on I.R.S., and also dispense some trivia about the band during the time on the label. We talk about Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, Lifes Rich Pageant and Document, discussing our highlights, lowlights, and our overall impressions of the band's early output.

Welcome to part one of our short series on R.E.M. So, as fans of the show know, the general thrust of Unsung is that each week we choose a record by a band. That record is either a classic by an unsung artist, or an unsung classic by a well known (and we take a fairly liberal view on what "well known" actually means) artist. The catalyst for this series is that Chris has chosen the album New Adventures in Hi-Fi by R.E.M. as an unsung classic. But before we even get to the album (coming next week in part four) we need to do our due diligence and take a quick glance over their entire discography. And folks, for R.E.M., it's a big ol discography. With fifteen albums, there's a lot to wade through, which is why this is a series in four parts, as opposed to one episode. But before we dive into the discography, we need to give context. So in episode one Chris talks about his affection for R.E.M., why he picked New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and we do a little bit of background on the band's pre-history. We also talk about our overall impressions of the band, what it was like to get to grips with the back catalogue. We also talk about Elizabeth Wurtzel's 1993 article "R.E.M. for The People", a key text for this series. In the next episode (dropping today RIGHT after this one) we dive into their discography. Stay tuned!

We're back! In new surroundings (digitally). To kick off our tenure in our new home of Bleav we thought we'd get out some Christmas leftovers and reheat them for you. Long time fans of the show will know that every Xmas we answer questions from our lovely listeners. Well, we had a couple we didn't answer from the 2023 Xmas specials and it just so happens that they pertain to the podcast itself and its future. So we talk a little about what drives us, why we're still doing it, what things might look like going forward and also chuck in some silly shit too. Can't be too serious all the time. Particularly when we talk about how fucked the music industry is. So sit back and relax with the first episode of the new era, and look forward to a bit more this week...

A little update on what's in store for the future of this podcast.

So here we are, the truly magnificent, slightly chaotic, overly long conclusion to our Xmas madness. It’s seen us well into January this year, which is maddening and funny. We had so many questions this year. A ridiculous amount, frankly. But we couldn’t let the die hards down, and that meant doing each and every single one. Somehow, despite divvying them up equally across the three episodes, the final part of this trilogy comes in a whopping 3 hour episode. Yes folks, bear witness to our first and hopefully last ever 3 hour episode. It was a chore, the edit was painful but it was also an immense amount of fun. This is probably actually our funniest episode ever. The hot takes are hotter than ever and the bantermobile has gone off the track and into some truly outlandish territory. After all this we’re taking next week off. Mostly because we actually have a lot to do and a lot of research on a band with a huge back catalogue. A band you perhaps never thought we’d cover (it’s not Prince). To keep you going we’ve created a playlist of our favorite albums of 2023. See ye in two weeks!

Christmas and New Year are very much in the rear view by this point, but due to our schedule having shifted due to ransomware attacks and COVID, we only managed to record parts two and three of our Xmas special last week. Usually part two is where we really get cooking. The booze is starting to kick in, the takes are at a reasonable level of spice, and we’re still largely coherent. That is, of course, not the case this year. We start part two sober, but it’s still as fun as it usually is. Because this is the part of the podcast schedule where we give back to you lot, we really take our time in answering your questions this year. That’s why this is a mega episode. It’s a lot of fun though. So grab something non-alcoholic (seriously, give your liver a break) and cosy up with this our new year’s treat. OH YEAH: we also made a playlist of all our favourite Scottish bands right now. It’s not just the ones we mentioned in the episode, there’s a whole bunch more besides. Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZCFOr1YDagIqbsKpTB3lz?si=1b6f6edb4dcb4db9

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Due to COVID we recorded part one of our Xmas Xtravaganza remotely, so this is a relatively subdued affair both in terms of banter, hilarity and searing hot takes. But we do get through a fucking TON of your questions, and that’s awesome. Thanks to every single person who sent us some in December. We’ve got two more episodes to record, which we’ll be doing TOMORROW (Jan 2nd) in person with copious amounts of alcohol. Thanks for an excellent 2023. Let’s smash 2024 together, eh?

IT’S CHRISTMAS! Is this our first ever Christmas day episode drop? Possibly. But don’t quote us on that. It’s been six years. So it’s likely we’ve done it before…anyway, this week is NOT part one (or two) of our Xmas Xtravaganza, but it’s part TWO of our karaoke mixtape! Last week we spoke all about the history of karaoke. This week we’re chatting about a couple things: are artists who tour using backing tracks essentially doing karaoke? And we also chat about our favourite karaoke tunes, our least favourite karaoke tunes, hear from some more friends of the pod and chat a whole other bunch of shite besides. HAVE A GOOD CHRISTMAS, FOLKS! See you in the NEW YEAR for the NEW YEAR’S TREAT!

Karaoke is a divisive artform. In fact, even calling an “artform” is divisive in itself. For most people it’s a fun thing to do with friends, and for that reason it is hugely popular around the world. Inspired by Chris’ recent birthday night out that ended in a karaoke booth, we thought we’d do something FUN and explore the history of karaoke. In part one we talk about how it began, its success and reveal the staggering scale of this multi-billion dollar a year industry. We also hear from a few of our regular contributors and past guests as they give us their opinions on karaoke and tell us what their go to songs are. We hope you enjoy this episode! TWO THING: One, the Xmas Vinyl Hamper has now been joined by a digital variant, which is great for people who live outside of the UK. Find out more over on our merch store. Also, we’ll chuck in a personalised message for you as well. Two, we are SIX YEARS OLD today. So please wish us happy birthday.

This week we have a guest! Grant Donaldson from Moni Jitchell (and many others) joins us to talk about the debut album by ‘68. Launching almost immediately after the abrupt end of the critically acclaimed Christian Metalcore The Chariot, ‘68 are a very different proposition indeed. At various points channelling equal parts southern blues, angular punk rock and noise rock, they couldn’t be further away from metalcore. Written in the studio and recorded in a very short space of time, In Humor and Sadness is both an extremely fun and seemingly spontaneous sounding record that also somehow comes across as well crafted. Truly a testament to the talent of Josh Scogin and drummer Michael McClellan, it’s an album full of ferocious energy, playing and charisma. In this episode we talk about the band’s history, including briefly touching on Norma Jean, The Chariot, Christian Metalcore and the band’s entire discography before giving the album itself a good once over. We hope you enjoy! VINYL FANS: Like the idea of the record club but don’t want the commitment? Well, this Christmas treat yourself or a loved one to our vinyl hamper, where will send you 3 albums from our extensive record club collection. Tell us which host you want to get albums from, and we’ll send them out for only £30 + postage. Check it out, now.

This week we talk about something positively wintery indeed, as we explore the foreboding sounds of Swedish sonic sorceress Anna von Hausswolff. Tracing influences from baroque pop storytellers like Tori Amos through to the cavernous industrial churn of Swans, we chart Anna's evolution across a series of bold studio works and her new live album. While early piano-led efforts drifted into listless bluesy indulgence at times, subsequent records built in scale and ambition, making powerful use of church pipe organs alongside doom-laden guitars. We make the case though that it is most recent album, a live collection titled Live at Montreux Jazz Festival, where von Hausswolff's songs are distilled to their dramatic, emotionally coruscating essentials. Spotlighting tracks from latest LP 'Dead Magic' alongside back catalogue standout 'The Miraculous', the performance captures a gifted ensemble locked into Anna's haunted creative vision. Sweeping highlights like 'The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra' and 'Ugly and Vengeful' twist and turn from Radiohead-esque ethereal fragility to Sunn O))) styled nightmarish peaks of noise, never losing their hypnotic grip. After a trademark meandering musical nexus takes us via Napoleon Bonaparte's living heirs to Kate Bush and Scott Walker, we also discuss the latest on our recent break and our upcoming Christmas episode plans. Which we’re taking questions for now, so if you want to contribute, send em over now!

We're back! After over a month away due to technical issues, the Unsung Podcast has returned with an explosive new episode on metalcore pioneers Poison the Well and their 2003 album 'You Come Before You.' Joining Chris and Mark for the first time in many months is Dave, who chose Poison the Well as his band for the episode. Hailing from Florida, Poison the Well helped define the metalcore genre in the early 2000s with their blend of hardcore punk and extreme metal. Albums like 1999's 'The Opposite of December' and 2002's 'Tear From the Red' built them a cult following. But it's their third album, 'You Come Before You,' that Dave considers their unsung classic. Recorded with producers who had previously worked with Refused, the album shows Poison the Well branching into more melodic territory even as the riffs become heavier. With nods to bands like Deftones and Cave In, it expanded the boundaries of what metalcore could be. The episode explores Poison the Well's entire career, analysing how they evolved from their raw early material into a more ambitious band on 'You Comes Before You' and subsequent releases. Though not all fans appreciated their change in direction, Dave makes the case for why their third album struck the perfect balance and deserves classic status. Tune in now to hear the full discussion and analysis of why Poison the Well's 'You Come Before You' is an unsung classic!

We have no new episode this week due to Chris' ransomware calamity. However, we do have something to share. A wee while ago Chris was on the excellent Sh*t You May Not Have Seen podcast talking all about the Bobcat Goldthwait film God Bless America. Enjoy! We'll be back in a few weeks.

Good news, folks! Chris has managed to recover the audio files needed to get our interview with Jan Alkema, drummer from The Drum, out the door! The quality might not be up to the usual standard, but we're so happy to share this with you. Just over a year ago, we did an episode on The Drum's only album/China Drum's third album, "Diskin." As a result, a few members of the band reached out to us on various platforms to talk about the episode. You may remember that we actually had a wee cameo from China Drum's singer/drummer Adam Lee on last year's Xmas episode. Jan also reached out to us and, after a brief back and forth, relayed his story of the creation of "Diskin." He also did a track-by-track rundown of the album, including all the details of the songs' recording process. So naturally, we just had to get him on the show to chat with us in person. After about a good 9 or 10 months of procrastination on our part, we finally sat down together on a Zoom call. Over the course of a couple of hours, we chatted about "Diskin," his experience with China Drum, when and why they changed their name to The Drum, the recording and release of the album, its subsequent tour, and the band's eventual dissolution. He also spoke a little about his own musical background too. In this episode, he talks about his experience as part of The Drum and the recording of "Diskin." The actual track-by-track rundown of the album by him will be released as a bonus episode to our subscribers on Patreon in November. If you want to hear it (and help Chris get a new laptop after last week's ransomware attack), sign up here. Big thanks to Jan for chatting with us. He's a genuinely lovely chap. We hope you enjoy this special interview! Now, due to the recent aforementioned loss of Chris' laptop, we're not sure if we'll have an episode for you next week, but stay tuned for info on when we'll be back in action!

Let's get down to brass tacks here, folks, there is no episode this week. Last week, Chris was subject to a randsomware attack which has unfortunately resulted in a complete loss of data from his laptop. In fact, it has rendered his entire laptop unusable. Not only that, but they gained access to all his accounts, and even our shared Dropbox folder, where the hackers also ruined all the files on it. Chris uses his laptop not just for this podcast, but also for music and, crucially, for work. We do have the files for what was supposed to be this week's episode backed up, but without a laptop and editing software, it's unclear when we'll be back up and running. We know times are tough right now, but if you've got a little cash and fancy putting your hand in your pocket to help donate towards a new laptop for Chris, hit up our PayPal donate page at www.unsungpod.net/donate. Hopefully be back next week, but if not, see you soon!

This week we get into the meat of Spotify streaming manipulation. We’ve already discussed the history, but how did Spotify become so influential? And why? The advent of music streaming opened new avenues for questionable promotion tactics to thrive. While piracy dealt a blow to record sales in the 1990s and 2000s, streaming's growth led to playlists becoming hugely influential. Getting on a top Spotify playlist can bring an artist millions of streams overnight. But with intense competition, some turn to shady methods for infiltration. Fake bot accounts, incentivised listens, and even playlists curators demanding payment to be on large playlists are used to artificially inflate plays. The goal is gaming Spotify's algorithms and human curators to appear more popular than the music merits. Companies openly sell packages guaranteeing huge stream counts through deception. But risks abound, from wasted money to torpedoed careers. Streams-for-hire erode consumer trust and unfairly disadvantage honest artists. The pattern echoes radio payola's heyday, which we discussed in part one last week. As technology progresses, some industry players still cut corners. While once payola was stamped out, streaming's unregulated landscape enabled its revival. Manipulation tricks the algorithm, but harms fair chance. If streaming aims for integrity, the platform, artists, and fans all must play a part. The path ahead remains murky, as new innovations open fresh exploitation possibilities. Yet hope persists that streaming may steer towards rewarding talent, not deception. By learning from history's mistakes, perhaps music promotion can shed its shadows. Or perhaps it’ll remain a wild west, with various figures and organisations vying for the attention, and money, of naive young artists.

Everybody wants to get famous. Or so they say. Fact is, for many emerging artists these days there’s a direct correlation between fame and the number of streams your tracks have on Spotify. As with anything online though, streaming figures can be manipulated. So over the next two weeks we’re going to tell you all about the phenomenon of playola, why it exists, how it works and the ways it has changed the music business. The story of playola goes back to the days of payola, whereby record labels and/or artists would pay DJs heaps of money to play their tracks on their radio shows. In this week’s episode, we delve into the history of payola for two reasons, really: It’s actually still a thing that happens, despite the fact that radio is more or less irrelevant for younger generations of people. Playola is an evolution of payola, using similar tactics to make artists seem popular, but via streams rather than radio. So this week, in part one, we’re giving you the context for a wider discussion on streaming manipulation by showing that it is payola by another name. We hope you enjoy this investigative podcast episode. We don’t often do journalism, but we sure do find it satisfying when we do.

This week’s episode is a very special interview with the legendary Eugene S. Robinson. Perhaps best known as the vocalist of the experimental rock band Oxbow, Eugene has not only played in various projects over the years, but has worn various different hats outside of music too. A renowned writer and journalist, he’s just about to release his memoir A Walk Across Dirty Water and Straight into Murderer’s Row on October 10th 2023. And when he’s not busy writing or performing, he’s also getting involved in MMA and bodybuilding. So we think it’s fair to say he’s a true polymath. In this extensive interview we talk a lot about his career, digging into just about every single musical project he’s been involved in. Along the way, he regaled us with stories about his life, his unique perspectives and philosophies about the world, and we also covered some real life body horror too. So, eh, if you’re squeamish, here’s your warning. We touch upon a few things from his upcoming memoir in this interview, and to be honest, it’s a great primer for that book. It was a true pleasure to chat with the man, and we really hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we did recording it.

It comes down to this, really - is Incesticide an unsung classic? We’ve added to the discourse around Nirvana’s back catalogue, with the exception of this album. Hopefully we’ve said something different, or offered a new, enlightening perspective. Or maybe we’re just talking unlimited rubbish. Either way, on the face of it it seems quite unthinkable to call anything by Nirvana unsung. It’s hard to wrap your head around that idea that maybe there’s some underappreciated gems somewhere that haven’t been rinsed to death by their legions of fans over the years. Our take? Yeah, there probably is some things you missed first time around, and a good selection of them are on this record. What do you think? Let us know on our socials! Find parts one and two here and here.

The sheer volume of ink spilled on Nirvana could reach the sun – that’s why a nuanced view is needed when re-examining their discography. So in part two of our Incesticide three parter, we’re going to do just that. If you missed it, part one can be found here. Rarely do appraisals both lionize a band yet conclude “I can’t listen anymore.” But Nirvana inspires this relationship. Their impact was supermassive, culture warping around them like a collapsing star. As teenagers, we binged their music until boredom bred apathy, echoed by Kurt snarling “Teenage angst has paid off well.” Time grants perspective. Their songcraft endures, but the addictive allure burned us out, like one night of overindulgence. Our teen obsessions were more than hype. Nirvana still slaps hard. Much of their music is timeless. So cue up the classics and deep cuts – their catalogue warrants renewed attention to hear what has or hasn't stood the testable of time. So join us this week as we take a trip into Nirvana’s studio albums. And the MTV Unplugged album. With lots of input from our rotating guest hosts, too!

Who would have thought that there would be a lot to say about one of the biggest bands in the history of music? This week, and for the following two weeks, we’ll be talking all about Nirvana. Our discussion has been brought on by Chris picking Incesticide by Nirvana. He thinks its an unsung classic, of course, but before we get into the band’s discography, there’s the small matter of their history… Alright, so we’ll be real with you here - this is an epic three parter. This episode will see us detail their history. We’ll talk about the odds and ends that bookended each album cycle, the live albums, the boxsets, as well as discuss the different band members, producers, recording circumstances and more. If you’re looking for the usual “unsung talks about the back catalogue before getting to the album proper” routine, well that’ll come in Side B, next week. It’s pretty wild to think we’re talking about about one of the most “sung” bands in the history of music on a podcast named unsung. But as you will see over the next three weeks, there’s a whole lot of unsung material, from bootlegs to outtakes and b-sides, that really do deserve more attention. We hope you enjoy.

We're back and we're talking about The Armed. But not just The Armed, we're also talking about anonymous bands/pseudo-anonymous bands, speculating about who has been in/played with/responsible for The Armed and, of course, the marketing campaigns that have accompanied all of their releases.

At the mercy of poor train WiFi so keeping this brief. Still on holiday. Back this week, when normal service will be resumed. This is a Patreon bonus episode. To hear more like it join us at www.patreon.com/unsungpod

Chris and I are on holiday this week (and possibly next week too). We aimed to have something done this week and next week but we’ve actually been quite busy working on a couple of really interesting episodes. One’s an interview with a noise rock legend, and the other is a detailed journalistic episode about Spotify. So to make up the short fall, we’ve reached deep back into the catalogue of bonus episode and unearthed this gem. Recorded in 2020 after the first lockdown had been lifted in the UK, and back when Dave was still around, we sat down to talk about some shit albums with good tunes on them. Laughs aplenty on this episode. We hope you enjoy it! To get more content like this, and to learn about the Unsung Record Club, visit: www.patreon.com/unsungpod

Let’s take a trip back to 1994, when Chris was 13 (Mark was 7), and he was busy creating custom Headswim t-shirts around Stirling while discovering the brilliance of that band's debut album. The album in question was "Flood," and it left a profound impression on Chris. While we often discuss the albums that have influenced us, it's uncommon for us to bring one of these into the Unsung spotlight. So, let's dive right in: On this album, Headswim was a grunge band, with added psychedelic influences, haunting Faith No More-esque keyboard elements, and occasional Black Sabbath riffs. The record showcased a band brimming with genuine potential. In a music landscape saturated with grunge acts imitating Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, or Alice in Chains, Headswim offered a surprisingly refreshing alternative. However, their trajectory took a turn. Following the tragic loss of a band member's brother, they made a comeback in 1997 with their second album, "Despite Yourself." Although it received some comparisons to Radiohead at the time, the majority of the album epitomized the generic indie rock sound of the late '90s. And that was essentially the end of their journey. Apart from a single released in 2000 titled "Dusty Road," the band gradually faded into obscurity. That is, until the recent re-release of "Flood" in 2022. So, the question arises: Is this album a forgotten gem or merely another grunge record best left in the past? Tune in and discover the answer!

What’s this? A regular episode? LIKE THE OLD DAYS?! Yes folks, it’s been a little while since we did a regular, one album one band episode, and this week Chris has chosen the odd choice of Give You the Ghost by POLIÇA. Why odd? Well, it’s a bit of a spoiler I guess, but after this album the band’s star started to fade. Pretty rapidly. Even the reviews of every subsequent album after this agree. There’s also the fact that Chris is actually puzzled as to why he even chose this in the first place. Y’see, sometimes a funny thing happens when we chuck an album under the lens of this pod: our relationship to it changes once we analyse it closely. And this is partly why Chris was slightly puzzled by his own choice. That and the fact that it maybe hasn’t aged as well as it first seemed. Either way, we get to the bottom of a conundrum or two on this episode. Is Give You the Ghost an unsung classic? Let’s find out!

This week, we're fulfilling a promise we made when we started the Unsung Record Club - featuring episodes on the albums we've included in the club. We're excited to discuss four records available to record club members - two digital and two vinyl. From the digital selection, we have The Burnt Tapes' "Never Better" and Adam Stafford's "Imaginary Walls Collapse." These albums are a true delight, showcasing the talent of these lesser-known artists we genuinely admire. Moving on to the vinyl selection, we have Siobhan Wilson's "There Are No Saints" and Kaddish's "What World Was Still?" These records deliver a captivating experience that deserves recognition and appreciation. When we launched this podcast nearly 6 years ago (!), our goal was to spotlight lesser-known artists we admired. Though we've covered established artists to broaden our reach, the record club remains our means of supporting underrated acts directly, putting money into their pockets, and appreciating their art in a way streaming services can't match. By introducing these incredible artists to you, we hope you'll discover and enjoy their music too. It's our way of contributing to the music community and helping these talented musicians thrive. We genuinely love all four of these artists and their work, so even if you're not a record club member, we encourage you to seek them out, purchase their records or merchandise, and help sustain their creativity. Your support means the world to them. We hope you enjoy this episode, and thank you for supporting us in our mission to promote these exceptional talents. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of these unsung musicians and keep the spirit of their art alive.

This week we have our longest episode yet as we take a deep dive into the work of Rick Froberg, the singer of Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu and Obits who sadly passed away in June 2023. Enlisting the help of post-punk encyclopaedia, and literal Doctor in punk music, our friend Ferruccio Quercetti, we take a real good look at the work of Nick Froberg through the lens of Hot Snakes. With work on their fifth album said to be nearing completion at the time of his passing, this episode serves as a tribute to the man’s talent. Whilst we do mostly focus on Hot Snakes for most of this episode, we do touch on every project he, and John Reis, have been part of to some extent. We didn’t want to dwell on the other projects too long though, as there’s a really good chance we’ll come back and do episodes on Drive Like Jehu and Rocket from the Crypt at some point in the future. Both Chris and Ferro chose their favourite Hot Snakes albums for this episode. Sucide Invoice, the band’s second album, is Chris’ pick, whilst Ferro plumps for their third album, Audit in Progress. Now that isn’t to say that one is necessarily better than the other - truth be told, all four of their albums are really bloody good - but Chris and Ferro have their reasons for picking these two specifically, and we get into that in this episode. Along the way we also cite a ton of other bands that influenced Rick, as well as a whole bunch more bands that were influenced by him too. So please, grab yourself a beverage of any kind, raise it in a toast to Rick Froberg, and get stuck into this monster episode.

We conlcude our one album wonder mixtape by diving headlong into four of our own personal favourite one album wonders, and also by exploring two of the catagories we set out in the last episode. As a reminder, we're talking about bands that have had only had one album. We’re not talking about bands that are on their debut album, but acts that were one and done. The categories are: Bands that seemed to be fully-fledged projects but ended before they could realise their potential (which we covered last week) Spin-offs and side projects Acts that changed their name for one record So aye, we talk about spin-offs and side projects, and acts that changed their name for one record. We also talk about: Nailbomb by Nailbomb, Depatures by Midnight Masses, Hope by Non-Prophets and Handsome by Handsome. There's not quite as many samples in this episode as there was in the last one, but there's still bloody LOADS so fill your boots! We're going to try to put together a playlist but the edit was a nightmare on both of these so I wouldn't hold your breath too hard for it...

Now that we’ve set music festivals to rights (for this year) we thought we’d follow up on our White Town episode - a true one hit wonder - with a one album wonder mixtape. Which, as is our wont, turned into a two parter. So the remit is simple here - bands that have had only had one album. We’re not talking about bands that are on their debut album, but acts that were one and done. To bring some order to this, we’ve picked three albums each, and also come up with three buckets in which to place artists: Bands that seemed to be fully-fledged projects but ended before they could realise their potential Spin-offs and side projects Acts that changed their name for one record This week, we go through the first category, which is by far and away the biggest, and talk about two of our chosen albums - In a Million Pieces by The Draft and The Spoils by USSA. There’s more samples than you can shake a stick at in this episode, which makes it a real fun, and informative listen. Enjoy!

You may have noticed but England’s biggest festival, Glastonbury, took place recently. You know the score already - for a weekend a bunch of farmland in Somerset gets turned into a pseudo-city where people pay an crazy amount of money for a ticket to go and see some good, and some shit, bands. This year was the biggest (and probably most expensive) yet, with Guns n Roses, Elton John and Arctic Monkeys headlining. Naturally it sold out almost instantly when it went on sale last year. For the most part, the festival was a success. You can see that if you watch the hours and hours of footage that are available on the BBC iPlayer (fi you’re in the UK) and on YouTube. Chris watched a bunch of it and he has some opinions. Not just on Glasto, but on festivals more generally. Mark missed the entire thing cause he was in Krakow spoiling his liver on a stag doo. He was also able to conjure up some thought the the haze of a four day hangover though. All this activity led us to decide to do a very special festival focused town hall. We hope you dig.

This week we're doing another UNSONG because Chris has very much wanted to talk about this song for a while. You're no doubt familiar with it, but the story around it is fascinating. A one hit wonder for sure, White Town - the long running project of Jyoti Prakash Mishra - has reflected a lot on his brief stint on a major label, whilst also being thankful of the fact he had a one hit wonder. A truly compelling story, there's a lot to get into with this one so we ended up with an double length unsong-er. Hope you dig it as much as we did!

In part two of our Lankum special we dedicate some time to talking about the band’s entire back catalogue before getting torn into their 2019 album The Livelong Day. Up until this record, the band had only really toyed with taking their sound in a darker, more extreme direction. Of course, both of those adjectives are relative - Lankum are not Pig Destroyer - but in the context of traditional music, or folk music, the band make a devilish, challenging noise that is certainly indebted to noise and drone in less than subtle ways. The band have since gone on to create an even more challenging record in False Lankum, their latest album. It’s clear that they remain committed to treading their own path, and whilst we both admit to having not have had enough time to truly digest False Lankum, it’s heartening to know their vision remains uncompromised. But really it comes down to the age old question - is The Livelong Day an Unsung classic? Listen and find out, and chip in with your thoughts on our socials!

This week we've decided to tackle a genre we've yet to tackle - folk. Or traditional. Or traditional folk? Irish folk music? Irish folk drone? Who knows what to label it, really. All we know is that it's traditional music and it's folk music. Yes, we're talking about Lankum. We've been trying to get this episode in the bag for freaking ages but after interviewing the band, we struggled to land a guest to guide us through the world of folk music. So we decided just to plough on through anyway, so please forgive our ignorance around this genres, as we're not steeped in it like we are many other genres we cover. Ostentisbly this is a two parter about the album The Livelong Day by Lankum, however this week we actually have an interview with Lankum and with Scottish folk legend Simon Thoumire. In this episode we'll mainly be tackling trad music scene in Scotland, how it may seem inaccessible to some, the class divide, the instituations that train and develop trad musicians, and comparing that somewhat to the scene in Ireland. Hope you dig it!

We’ve been working on trying to pull together a very special episode which contains both an interview with a band, a special guest, and seeing us tackle a genre that we’ve yet to cover. We came so close to nailing one of these things but last week we were thwarted by illness. Which left us without an episode for this week. So we’re rolling out some bonus content for you and it’s episode FIVE of UNSONG where we talk about a single song that we think is an unsung classic. Chris has picked 80s pop banger Waiting for a Star to Fall by Boy Meets Girl. If you like this, you can find more by subscribing to the show on Patreon.

We’re back with Joe McGlynn from Man Must Die (as well as In the Lap of the Pods Queen Podcast and Shit You May Not Have Seen Podcast) for part two of our two-parter on “Heartwork” by Carcass. As Carcass plough their way across the UK this week on what seems like a fairly extensive tour, we pick up where we left off last week as Joe opens by telling us his story about the band, before we dive headlong into their two latest releases. There was a lot of noise made around their return in 2007, but at the time the band said that no new music was on the horizon. It took them a good five years to backtrack on that decision though, and in 2013 they unleashed “Surgical Steel” on the world. It’s an album which very much sounds like the band that did the album “Heartwork”. Indeed, no sonic trace of “Swansong” could be found, which pleased a lot of fans, including our very own Joe here. A going concern once again, they’ve since fallen back into the cycle of performing and writing music. 2021’s “Torn Arteries” was met with reasonable acclaim in the press, landing on many end of year lists. Which brings us to the present day, and part two of today’s episode. It may seem odd to some for Joe to have picked why “Heartwork” is an unsung classic, but this week we dive into the album and give it a thorough going over before deciding if it does indeed deserve to be called “unsung”.

This week we’re revisiting a genre we haven’t covered in a while - melodic death metal. Ok, that’s kind of not true cause did Gojira not that long ago but they’re not THIS kind of death metal. Joe McGlynn from Man Must Die (as well as In the Lap of the Pods Queen Podcast and Shit You May Not Have Seen Podcast) nominates Heartwork, the fourth album by Carcass. Originally a “goregrind” band, whatever that means, the Liverpudlian trio (at the time) were often mentioned in the same breath as Napalm Death, but after releasing their first album Reek of Putrefaction they would soon begin to explore their death metal leanings further. Each subsequent album would double down on the metal whilst slowly bringing in more classic rock elements. This endeavour would culminate on their critically lauded album Heartwork, and would cement them as pioneers of melodic death metal, making them somewhat legendary in the process. On this episode we cover everything from their first album right up until their 17 year hiatus after the release of their fifth album, Swansong. So come on this journey with us, and let’s get nasty.

We all meet the reaper at some point in our lives. Most folks make it to a fair old age before they meet their end, but some, well, they depart the world a little too soon. This episode is dedicated to those that passed too early. We chat about some of our favourite artists, both obscure and well known, before we pay tribute to them by picking 7 songs each that we feel represent their lives and their work. Which means the trigger warning goes like this - we discuss not just death, but also suicide in this episode, and although we handle it fairly tactfully, you may want to skip this if you feel it’s not for you. We’ve pulled together a wee playlist with our choices in it too, so you can check this out below.

This week we are joined by special guest Shu Ying, an experimental/post-punk/electronic artist from China. In this episode we chat a little about her music and more broadly about the history of music in China and Hong Kong, the evolution of alternative music in the country, its unique sound, the differences to Western music and more. She also picked a few albums for us to get our teeth into by artists that are unsung in their influence on Chinese rock, punk and post-punk music. These include: Dou Wei - Black Dream Underbaby - Awakening Tat Ming Pair - Shi Tou Ji Anthony Wong Chau-Sang - Underdog Rock We strongly urge listening to these artists after this episode if you want to dive a little deeper into the specific traits and approach that these artists take, but as ever, there’s a whole bunch of samples and more besides in the episode. With her help, we also pulled together a Spotify playlist of some of the artists discussed. We were very keen to get an insight another insight into what music is like in non-Western countries, so we hope you enjoy coming on this ride with us. Check out Shu Ying’s music here, and find out Chinese and Hong Kong playlist below.

You may have realised by now that UNSONG is a feature that we usually reserve for our Patreon subscribers. Occasionally we’ll release an episode to general public to give y’all a flavour of what you’re missing over in the Unsung Record Club. Put simply Unsong is basically Unsung but with one song. This week we’re gonna chat about the song Real American by Rick Derringer, a tune best known for being Hul Hogan’s entrance music. “Why have you dropped this on us in lieu of a regular episode"?” we hear you ask. It’s quite simple, really: after we recorded this we felt it was just so much fun that we wanted the whole world to hear it at the same time. This song became well known because of Hulk Hogan, but the journey to how it even came into the purview of WWF, how it became Hulk Hogan’s theme song and why is actually really interesting. In fact, it even replaced a song that was written specifically for the Hulkster by Jim Steinman. Aye, that Jim Steinman. The one that wrote Bat Out of Hell. The 80s was a weird time. In the WWF, Vince McMahon wanted his wrestlers to be rock stars, which meant he pulled shit like having Cyndi Lauper on the first Wrestlemania, and create this whole MTV crossover style thing with the Rock and Wrestling connection. What should have been a 20 minute episode for us turned into a 40 minute banger so please, come with us into the world of 80s wrestling and Rick Derringer in this special episode of Unsong.