Unsung Podcast

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.

Things went pretty well last week as we delved into the formative years of Placebo. The era that many fans consider to be the band’s peak. This week we discuss everything post Meds and our views are…well, let’s just say they are decidedly less rosy. With 2009s Battle for the Sun Brian made a lot of noise in the press about how this was a band searching for, and finding, a new identity. That much is true as the band’s sound is a lot more open, optimistic and less melancholic. Perhaps getting sober played a big part in that? Either way, things sound less nihilistic. Which is somewhat divisive for us because we felt that perhaps they should have continued to plunder on what their signature sound. Or, perhaps, maybe taken other measures… We do end the episode on a thrilling high though as we discuss the band’s self titled debut album at length and folks, it might be 27 years but it still does the business.

After a quick break this week we’re back as Chris takes a journey into his youth and nominates Placebo’s self titled debut album. But before we get to that, we need to talk about the band’s history and their back catalogue. Coming onto the scene when Britpop was ascendant, Placebo were often lumped into with that lot even though they sound nothing like that. Taking cues from The Smiths, Sonic Youth, Depeche Mode and more, they were an alt rock band first and foremost. With breakout hit “Nancy Boy” charting highly in 1997 (almost a year after the self titled debut was released) they went to create quite the name for themselves not just in the UK, but across Europe and in the US too. Between 1996 and their fifth album, 2006’s Meds, the band kept getting bigger, garnering more acclaim and as a result becoming one the UK’s biggest rock acts. A legacy that still seems somewhat true today. In this episode we talk about the band’s pre-history and dive into everything from Without You I’m Nothing to Meds.

It’s been QUITE the week here in Unsung towers, with holidays and various other things happening, we weren’t able to get a regular episode recorded. So we’re dropping this bonus content preview. Please enjoy, and if you like it, consider signing up to our Patreon.

This week friend of the pod Benjamin Power, otherwise known as Blanck Mass, joins us to discuss a record he loves by a band he loves - Broken Ear Record by Black Dice. In this episode we get to grips with the difference between avant-garde and experimental music, ponder what music actually is, and do our best to understand the weird, puzzling world of Black Dice. Strap in. It’s gonna get mental.

Much like Lil Kim, we announced our intention to do an episode on The Gaslight Anthem some time ago. But alas, it did not transpire, and it festered for a wee bit, hung over us, filled us with dread. But we’ve now finally exorcised it from our system with the help of emo scholar Marisa Androvik. Despite coming from the very fertile New Jersey punk and emo scene in the late 00s, The Gaslight Anthem sound nothing like their peers. On the album we’re covering this week, you may very well get hints of Hot Water Music. Perhaps also Alkaline Trio. As far as contemporary points of reference go, that’s about as many as you’ll find. For musicians from New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen looms large. Usually, artists will faintly acknowledge it, merely nod to it. Never embrace it. Unlike those bands The Gaslight Anthem wear the influence of The Boss firmly on their sleeve. Indeed, it is one of the defining features of their sound. But it’s not as pronounced on their first album, 2007’s Sink or Swim. The influence of Bruce Springsteen can certainly be heard, but it’s not as apparent as it would later go on to become. Only a year after their debut album the band released their second record, The ‘59 Sound. Their sound had shifted, they leaned more into their heartland rock/Jersey Shore Sound influences. They became much more evident but not overdone (well, depending on who you ask of course), and their trajectory changed. Rapidly. Once The Boss himself had gotten wind of the band, their star began to ascend at speed. In the albums that would follow (with the exception of their fifth album, 2014’s Get Hurt) they began to incorporate more of Springsteen’s varied influences, not just writing the big obvious rock bangers that he did, but augmenting their sound with elements with the of soul, RnB which always peppered his music. They also added in Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and a sprinkling of Social Distortion to boot. As the acclaim, and the record sales, and the size of their tours, began to grow, eventually Mercury Records came calling and what followed were two big rock records. It was the latter of the two, the aforementioned confused and confusing Get Hurt, that led that band to announce a hiatus in 2015, shortly after its release. As of 2022 they’re now a “full time band” again. What does the future hold? Well, with a new album in their sights, perhaps they can improve on the misfire of their last record and craft something closer to the soaring radio rock of 2012’s Handwritten. Or maybe they’ll go all the way back to the source and become a punk band again like they were on their debut album, which is the subject of this very episode. Who's to say. In the end, only one question really matters - is Sink or Swim an unsung classic? You decide.

Been a wee while since we did a covermount CD so this week Crag joins us from 12 hours into the future to have a look at “Wake Up! (15-Track Guide To New North American Indie)” which comes from the March 2007 edition of Uncut. North American indie at this period contained a hell of a lot of flannel, as well as a shit ton of Americana influence. That kind of thing comes up a lot in this compilation. It’s also quite twee which is a vibe unto itself. It may not be for everyone, of course, but it certainly was for a lot of people back then. As is the case with most of the covermount CDs we have reviewed so far, there is an abundance of well known artists but a sheer lack of good songs by those artists. There are a couple exceptions to the rule on this CD (TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me” is a straight banger and one of their very best songs period), but generally that rule holds well. Duff album cuts from the likes of Metric, Deerhoof, The Shins and Band of Horses can be found on this compilation. They’re slung alongside artists that…well, promptly vanished into obscurity when tastes moved on. Not the worst we’ve done so far, but certainly not the best either. Let us know what you think. Do you remember any of the bands from this era? Still a fan of them?

This week we’re joined by American artist and academic Rebecca Yurivna to talk about the Russian band Shortparis. Shortparis is a Russian experimental rock band hailing from the city of St. Petersburg. The band was formed in 2012 and musically, the band are quite difficult to catagorise. They take in elements of post-punk, electronic, and avant-garde music with traditional Russian folk melodies and lyrics. Their sound is quite unique, and is characterized by intense vocals, complex instrumentation, and a theatrical stage presence. More recent albums are almost exclusively sung in Russian, with the occasional lapse into English and French peppered throughout their career. Chris is fairly new to this band, as are Mark and Rebecca, so it was fun to get under their skin. We also chat about their political stance, which until the recent Russo-Ukrainian war, was somewhat ambiguous in their music. This often contrasts with their videos, which are more overt in their pro-LGBT+, almost anti-Russian stance. Indeed, they’ve become quite outspoken critics of Russia snice the war. In this episode we go through all of their records whilst also touching on the political situation in Russia today, and take a quick look at some other protest music that has cropped up in Russia since the war. Check out Rebecca’s music here, and give her a wee follow on Instagram here. It was great to have her on the show. Hopefully we can link up again soon! Let us know what you think of Shortparis on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Dave is back this week and he brings some seriously heavy vibes from French metal titans Gojira. After seeing the band live recently, he remembers how great their third album, "From Mars to Sirius," is. Mark, who was also at the same show, was pleased to get acquainted with them. Chris had heard of the band but never really took the time to get to know them until now. It's surprising to think that a band like Gojira has become as successful as they are. Starting out as a technical death metal band, it wasn't until their third album that they began to push the limits of what they could achieve sonically. Although some of the core aspects of their sound are present in their first two albums, it was during album number three that they truly came into their own. Their success led them to sign with Roadrunner and tour heavily in America, eventually leading to Joe and Mario Duplantier moving there. On their sixth album, they took their sound in a more melodic direction with 2016's "Magma." However, their signature sound was born on "From Mars to Sirius," which combines the ruthless technical death metal of their first two albums with groove metal and melody to create a unique sound. While it may not be their biggest seller, "From Mars to Sirius" is their most critically acclaimed record and a true fan favourite. Some may still consider it an unsung classic. What do you think? Let us know.

Everyone's got a collection of songs that they're really sick of hearing. Some are quite obvious - Wonderwall, we're looking at you - whereas others are perhaps not so obvious. And that's before we even get into the realms of talking about songs that were cannot abide for deeply personal reasons. What we're saying is that we all think a bunch of songs are overplayed. This week we dive into the world of overplayed songs. We go a little further than simply listing songs that are done to death, though. We go deep into the psychology behind why songs are overplayed, what it is about these songs that lead them to become overplayed, and try to come up with a few categories in which to put certain kinds of overplayed songs. We originally recorded this episode as a bonus episode for subs but it really took on a life of its own. Oh and our new co-co-host ChatGPT makes an appearance because why the fuck not use AI when everyone else is doing it? Any songs you think are particularly egregiously done to death? Let us know!

We’ve taken a small break this week to record bonus content, so we thought we’d drop some of our older bonus content as a way to tease you into subscribing. Unsong is basically THE UNSUNG SINGLES CLUB. In it, we breakdown a single song to talk about why it works so well. On this episode, Mark has chosen Separate Ways by your dad’s favourite 80s band, Journey. If you’d like to get more of this kind of content, consider subscribing to our Patreon. From just £4 you can be a member of the club, and if you really fancy a commitment you can donate a little more and subscribe to our RECORD CLUB. Each month we send out you a record from the host of your choice (or you can do a pot luck if you fancy), either digital or vinyl. It’s a fun wee thing, and we have some great records in it so do check it out! We also encourage subscribing and unsubscribing if you don’t want to carry it on month to month, or simply want to dip in and out as you see fit. Back next week with something a little bit different again.

This week we get a little gloomier, sadder and generally more depressed than usual as we take a trip into the world of The Black Heart Procession. We delved into the band's unique take on indie rock(?), and try to get down to what makes this band work so well. As ever, we delve into the band’s entire back catalogue, and Vicki explains why she found herself torn between two of the band's third and fourth albums: "Three" and "Tropico Del Amore". Both albums showcase the band's ability to craft haunting and melancholic music, but in very different ways. "Three" is a dark and brooding album that is characterised by its atmospheric sound and Pall Jenkins’ haunting, yet beautiful lyrics. Their distinct use of traditional instruments and electronic elements creates a unique and otherworldly sound that is both beautiful and melancholic. On the other hand, "Tropico Del Amore" is a more upbeat (relatively speaking - they are not an upbeat band) album that sees the band pushing the boundaries of their sound by crafting a truly cinematic record - it even had a film accompanying it - and taking their music in new directions. We also discuss some of the band’s side projects before we eventually get to grips with “Three” itself. Don’t worry though, the nexus pops in at the end to bring the energy back up, as ever. What you reckon? An Unsung classic? Let us know!

Let's get properly nerdy. This week, we're talking about his third album Dangerous Days and in this bumper episode we don't only talk about his the dark, sugar rush of his music, but we also talk about the history of synthwave, his place in cybergoth and cyberpunk culture, video games and much more. For the uninitiated, Perturbator is an acclaimed French synthwave musician and producer whose works have been featured in video games and films. His whole catalogue of music is marked by dark and futuristic soundscapes, exploring topics such as cybernetics, robotics, and dystopian societies. Dangerous Days, released in 2014, is Perturbator's third full-length album, and it continues in the vein of his earlier works. The album is a journey into the darkest corners of cyberpunk, cybergoth and synthwave music. In what can only be described as a relentless barrage of power synths, augmented with the occasional vocal track, highlights include “Death Squad” and “Dangerous Days” feature huge, booming synths and relentless drums that evoke a sense of urgency and danger. Other tracks, such as “Future Club” and “Hard Wired”, are more mellow and atmospheric, creating moods that are perfect for a night of cyberpunk partying. Synthwave itself is something of a niche subculture, and Perturbator's fame is (by his own admission) built upon being included in various game soundtracks, most notably the Hotline Miami series. In this episode we chat about his influence, some of his contemporaries and of course, give his entire catalogue the once over. Come with us on a journey to explore the depths of cyberpunk and synthwave culture.

We’re really starting to think that a pound just isn’t very sound at all any more… This week we thought it’d be good to bring back your favourite Poundland £1 album review show. Except, Poundland doesn’t sell CDs anymore (probably a good thing), which means we had to start looking at other places to buy CDs for £1. Which meant going to charity shops and to be honest, that sits just fine with us. We roped Vicki into the latest edition, and instead of releasing it to our subs we thought we’d show people who aren’t subs just exactly what they’re missing by putting this episode on general release. So what do we have in our £1 album bucket this week? Well folks, it’s Deacon Blue, Ed Sheeran and Miss Dynamite. Not sure what else we can say. This went about as well as you’d expect - torturously so. Just…just go with it.

With the history of the band now firmly out of the way, we take this week to dive deep into the band’s entire back catalogue. With Chris and Vicki being avowed fans of the majority of the band’s work, we go on a windy, tangent filled journey through each of their albums, talking about the best tunes, the worst tunes and more. Then the main course: a thorough run down of the band’s fourth album, Lullabies to Paralyze. Coming After Songs for the Deaf, it was always going to be a tall order to follow that record. Not so much sonically - indeed, the band go in a whole new direction with this one - but in critical and commercial acclaim. There is no Dave Grohl. There is no Nick Oliveri. What there is, though, is a line up that would continue, albeit with augmentation, for the next few years and into Era Vulgaris. In fan and critics lists, this album often comes out right in the middle of their rankings. Chris thinks it’s about time you thought about it differently. Is it an unsung classic?

Wow, 250 episodes. That’s crazy. It’s definitely more than that, but as actual episodes go, it’s rather a lot. Especially when you realise that most podcast don’t even make it to 8 episodes… As is our new year tradition, after our regular Christmas shenanigans tanked our numbers (it’s by the fans for the fans, after all) we always come back BIG and this year we’re going to be discussing Queens of the Stone Age’s fourth album Lullabies to Paralyse. But before we get into that, and the band’s entire discography, it’s only fair that we give this band’s history a good once over. So on this week’s episode we talk about the band, its many members, Josh Homme himself, his biography, the controversies and just about everything in between as we attempt to give a good overview of the history of the Queens of the Stone Age.

We were hit with a bout of illness and frankly rubbish personal circumstances over the last couple of weeks, but we managed to get our shit together long enough to sit down with the wonderful, Sibohan Wilson. Siobhan Wilson is a musician from Elgin who has been making music for over a decade. She has released four albums and one EP, the most recent being “Survivre” in 2022. She released the album via her own label, Suffering Fools Records. On today's episode we discuss her career, discography, record label, Patreon, her love for Celtic Connections and experiences in the music industry. She spoke about the struggles of being an independent artist, her experiences with various record labels and what led her to forge her own destiny with her own record label. She also discussed the different methods she's using to reach her fans, including her Patreon and how it has allowed her to connect with her fans on a deeper level. It was a great chat and we're stoked we had her on the show. We hope you enjoy it. NEXT WEEK - Queens of the Stone Age...

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS! For those of you not based here in lovely Scotland, aside from having the 1st of January as a holiday we also get the 2nd, so today is another holiday for us. Which is great if you happen to work for an employer that recognises it. We digress. The wheels start to come off in this episode in quite a fun way, which is why it’s MASSIVE. In this episode we discuss the awfulness of folk metal, Baywatch, Weaver's grammar, nasty Japanese porn comics, Transformers and of course Sir David Attenborough. We also talk about our favourite albums of 2022. Next week we have something quite special (hopefully!) stay tuned…

Merry Christmas folks! Or Merry Boxing Day, I guess. We hope all of you had a wonderful time no matter what you did or who you spent it with. Part two of our Xmas special is a remarkably civilised affair, which you may be shocked to hear, given how these things usually tend to go. Some spicy takes are of course had, and there is mercifully little chat about Jones and Kushner this week, but there are some very cool questions and some cool guest answers too. We’re away to tend to the Xmas leftovers and continue to drink our body weight in booze. Have a good week and enjoy the gootch end of the year. Or barse. Or whatever.

As regulars will know, our Xmas Xtravanganza is when all us have a few half lager shandies and answer questions that you have sent us. This year we had a whopping 35 to get thorough which meant things had to go in a much more orderly fashion than they usually would. Like last year, we’re joined by Weaver and Vicki and a number of VERY SPECIAL GUESTS answered some select questions too. Keep an ear out for them - some subs will be thrilled with who’s answered their questions. In part one we start to get warmed up, and there are a couple of SPICY hot takes right out of the gate. This is our last episode before Christmas so have a great one with your loved ones, folks. We’ll see you on Boxing Day for part two!

We did it, folks. We made it to 5 years. We are now, as of the publishing of this episode, 5. We’re just starting primary school. Our minds are open and receptive to new ideas, new experiences, new cultures… If only that were true. This week we conclude our Kiss vs Motley Crue two parter in banterful fashion, addressing topics like who’s the biggest arsehole in those two bands? What notorious (and notoriously awful) shit did they do? What is their legacy? And we do answer these questions. Mark also tells us which of the bands is “objectively” better by tallying up all the points scored and deducted in his frustratingly oblique point-scoring spreadsheet. Which, by the way, before you ask, you absolutely cannot see. Thanks. These episodes are perhaps some of the most fun we’ve had doing this show in a while (without booze) and y’know, we’re a bit sad it’s over. It felt like old times. Like when we were young and fit and in our prime. After we did these episodes we only kept discovering other mental shit about the bands. Like Eric Carr’s solo project featured Bruce Kulick on guitar and John fucking Corabi on vocals. Or that Eric Carr actually played in Lita Ford’s band, which is just another reason why these two bands are tied together. Who’s really the winner here though? Do you agree with our decision? What facts are you utterly aghast at the fact we missed? Because let us tell you, there’s a lot. A whole lot. Another two parter’s worth, we suspect. Perhaps we’ll revisit this for our tenth birthday…

Whilst our fifth birthday is the 15th of December this (absolutely ridiculous) birthday episode turned into a two parter so we’re dropping part one a week early. The topic for this episode is a call back to an old joke that Mark made way back in February 2018 when we interviewed the wonderful Jonah Matranga. In an attempt at “banter”, he said that Motley Crue were better than Kiss. The reality is of course that Mark has no strong feelings on this, but Chris had VERY strong feelings about it and has brought it up a whole bunch ever since. So in an effort to get to the bottom of this absurd question, we asked Dave to come back and defend Motley Crue whilst Chris defends Kiss. Mark has made a spreadsheet in order to try and make it somewhat objective. The result is, of course, hilarious. In part one we talk about their discography and legacy, amongst a bunch of other topics.

This week we decided it was time to dive into our bag of doom and do another covermount because we’ve somewhat indefinitely postponed our episode on The Gaslight Anthem. So, Crag joins us as we take a dive into this very hip (by 2007 standards) collection of indie, nu-rave and electronica from the 13th June 2007 edition of the NME. Apparently Muse curated this themselves, which is definitely up for debate because there are a fair few bands on this collection that were “cool” and all over the indie press in 2007. Nevertheless, there are a couple of totally bonkers inclusions (Lord Buckley? Lightning Bolt?!) and even an exclusive Muse song…that sounds like it was recorded in the back of a tour bus (cause it was). With this episode we’re now officially entering silly season. Over the course of the next month we’ll be celebrating our 5th birthday and doing the usual Xmas Specials. The birthday episode is a ton of fun, and sees the return of a very much in demand familiar face. Until then though, suffer with us through this Muse “curated” covermount CD.

After last week’s intro to Gene Clark, we continue the voyage into his career before circling back round to look at his wonderful 4th album No Other in its entirety. Whilst seen at the time by his record label, Asylum, as being a creative misfire, time has been incredibly kind to it. Maximalist (?) and refined, he was perhaps right in calling it his best work. Certainly, nothing he achieved before or since it ever came close to matching the overall quality of this album. Unique, daring and above all timeless, do you agree that it is an unsung classic?

This week we’re not doing The Gaslight Anthem due to some scheduling issues, so we’ve pivoted to Gene Clark (y’know, of The Byrd’s fame) and his fourth album No Other. When it was released this album was seen as a bit of a misfire for Gene. It didn’t land well critically, and given that it was turned in way over budget, it appeared that even the label, Asylum records, were keen to drop it in the dust bin of history. Indeed, they deleted the record from their catalogue less than two years after its release. Clark then played things for the rest of his solo career, diving right into Southern fried country rock for the majority of it. In the years afterwards, Clark lamented the lack of success and acclaim for the album and continued to state that it was his masterpiece. It wouldn’t see the light of day again until 1989, when a small German label reissued it around the time Clark’s solo career was on the wane. After his death (and perhaps because of it) interest in his work began to climb again through the 1990s. This led to two songs from No Other appearing on a compilation that was released soon after. Yet it wasn’t until the late 2010s when the album was finally released again, this time given the full 5.1 surround sounds, SACD/Blu ray treatment. This super deluxe treatment, remastered at Abbey Road and loaded with alternate studio version of the tracks, stands as true testament to his genius. He was indeed right all along – it is his best work. We go through his entire career in this episode, talking about the good and the bad. Join us next week as we dive into the album itself.

We really need to come up with a much better name for this weird phenomenon. This week’s episode is inspired by a little known Glasgow(ish) band called Julia Thirteen, an act that gained some prominence in the mid-00s, signed to a major label then vanished into obscurity, only for all of their members to turn up in a bunch of different acts. In some cases, these were acts which were significantly more successful. We get into all of that in this episode. We use this band to talk about other artists that have had the same fortune. Examples include Big In Japan, Green River and….well, so fucking many more to be honest. We dive into a whole bunch of those in this episode whilst also wondering just what the hell to call this thing. Any thoughts? Let us know!

Wasn’t the interview with Lou Barlow himself last week just lovely? If you missed it, you can check it out here. This week we’re going to unpack a lot of what he said in the interview, and give our own reactions to it. We recommend you checking that out before you start that episode. After that, we talk about Sebadoh’s extensive discography, from the lo-fi beginnings to this year’s Act Surprised. And then, of course, we get into Harmacy itself.

Very rarely do the stars align on this podcast. Indeed, given Mark’s absence this week due a scheduling conflict, it’s possible that you could call this another case of the stars failing to align. However, we’re here to disprove that notion entirely because it just so happens that they week we chose to do Sebadoh, Lou Barlow himself just happened to be in town. Which means that our episode on the band’s sixth album. Harmacy, has now become a two parter where in part one, Chris chats to Lou Barlow about the band’s legacy. He reflects on his favourite Sebadoh records, regales us with a couple of stories about the band from over the years, and then goes fairly deep into the whole Harmacy (and to a latter extent, Bakesale) era. A thoroughly amiable chap all around, we’re grateful to Lou for taking some time out of his schedule (he had not long arrived in Glasgow and was due to play with Dinosaur Jr that very evening) and for giving us his true opinion on the album. He answered a few questions we had about the album, yet left us with a bunch more, which we’ll dive into in part two. Next week we’ll chat more fully about the band’s career and of course Harmacy itself.

As fascinating as Lil Kim’s career is, what is also fascinating is the way her music helped to bring female sexuality “into the mainstream”. In part two of our deep dive into her career, we look a little deeper at this aspect of her music, as well as the legacy this particular approach has left. Often touted as a feminist, Lil Kim recently said that feminism has always been something of a grey area for her because first and foremost, for her, it’s all about supporting women. It’s clear that her debut album was ground-breaking in how it brought female sexuality to the forefront of popular music in a way which was equally as lewd as what many male rappers were doing at the time. Is her music empowering? Or does she, by trying to outdo male rappers, become another one of the “boys”, by projecting an image of what men expect a woman to be? And what of her legacy? Many female rappers cite her as an influence, but are Nicki Minaj, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion actually talking the talk (by creating music that is thematically similar to hers) but failing to walk the walk (by making comments in interviews that demonstrate conservative views that are at odds with the message in their music)? We grapple with this and bring in some academic sources both from third parties and our own in house academic Marisa Androvik. We then talk about Hard Core as an album, Chris uncovers his dislike for any kind of humour in music, and we have some properly great nexuses too.

We were supposed to do this episode months ago but we just couldn’t get someone with more than on X chromosone in the room. Once we asked our latest guest host Marisa if she fancied joining us though…well, it was GAME ON. So here we are. Doing an episode on the “controversial” Lil Kim. A protege of Biggie Smalls, she shocked the world with her debut album Hard Core then went onto craft quite the legacy for herself, challenging the norm in the male dominated hip-hop scene and, as some might argue, paving the way for women in rap to be sexual, and not be afraid to talk all sex. We didn’t plan for this to two into a two parter but there’s just so much to talk about when it comes to Kim. From the albums to the beefs, to the feminism and feminist critique of her work, it became clear that we’d need to dedicate some serious time to unpacking all of it. On this episode we chat mostly about her back catalogue and her life outside of the music. There’s plenty of banter and music clips too. We hope you enjoy!

History is littered with bands that went “experimental” for one album and then broke up after said album. A lot of the time, fans and press assume that the reasons for that are simply because they couldn’t stand the rejection from their fans. That’s not always the case. Formed in 1989, The Drum also go by the name China Drum. If you were around in the 90s and read musi mags or followed the Britrock scene at the time, the name China Drum is probably familiar to you. At the end of the 90s, they decided to embrace new technology and new songwriting techniques (spurred by the addition of a fourth member). The result was a radically different sound, which led them to change their name to The Drum and release their third/debut album Diskin. It’s a very different prospect in comparison to the pop punk tinged alt-rock of their previous two albums - Goosefair and Self Made Maniac - but the result is, we feel, thrilling. On this episode we dive inside the band’s career and this album, complete with some first hand testimony from singer Adam Lee himself.

If you were wondering why we had a small break last week and teased you with some of the sweet bonus content our subs get (which you can get access to by signing up at www.patreon.com/unsungpod - starting at £4 a month!) it’s because we needed a little time to get our research hats on. This week we’re bringing you another monster episode and the topic is Donny Hathaway. Donny Hathaway was a remarkable musician. That’s not in dispute. A prodigious talent from a very young age, he transitioned from gospel choir singer to a house songwriter for Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom Records, whilst also working with a number of seminal soul and RnB artists in the late 60s. As the 70s rolled in, he started to explore a solo career and the rest is, as they say, history. From 1970 to 197 he delivered a lot of output in a very short space of time, before mental health issues began to take their toll, sending him off into creative silence for the remainder of the 1970s. As far as soul and RnB singers go, Donny is one of the most influential you’ve probably never heard of. A real musician’s musician, so to speak, he garnered a lengthy list of admirers in his lifetime, and an even greater list since his tragic passing in 1979. On this week’s episode Crag takes on a deep dive into all of his albums before we discuss his posthumous live collection Songs for You, Live! And get to the bottom of whether or not his truly unsung.

After the EPIC Nina Nastasia two parter we decided take a wee week off. So this week so we’ve gone deep into our catalogue of bonus content and unearthed the next episode in a series that we’re calling Unsong. If you like what you hear, consider subscribing AND joining our record club here. It’s basically THE UNSUNG SINGLES CLUB. In it, we breakdown a single song to talk about why it works so well. On this episode, Chris has chosen Come Undone by Duran Duran. Let us know what you think of this episode. We’re doing more of these in future and we enjoyed the hell out of this! We're welcome to lots of feedback on this. Wanna see more of it? Can we do it differently? What can we improve? Bring on your comments!

It got pretty heavy last week, and whilst we’re not apologising for covering such weighty topics, we do understand that some levity is required. In the form of a mighty two hour opus about Nina Nastasia’s discography. Yes, you read that right - this episode is two hours long. It is perhaps our longest single episode to date. Even though Nastasia has a smaller discography than many of the artists we’ve covered in the past, both Chris and Vicki had a lot to say about her work, so we just let the conversation flow. We cover her entire career here, before doing deep dives on The Blackened Air and You Follow Me. There’s also a fair amount of hilarity too, which we absolutely won’t spoil for you, but suffice to say it really does address the balance after the sombre mood of last week’s episode. What do you folks think? Is The Blackened Air her best record? Or is it You Follow Me? Or is it ANOTHER OPTION? Let us know!

This week we have the first of two episodes on Nina Nastasia, as we go deep into her career, decision to vanish from the public eye, recent events and much, much more. It’s been a wee while since we did a head-to-head episode, but Chris and Vicki couldn’t agree which of her albums was the best, so here we are. Vicki has chosen her second album, The Blackened Air, whilst Chris has gone for her 2007 collaboration with The Dirty Three’s Jim White, You Follow Me. But there’s a bit of an elephant in the room here that we felt we had to address. As of writing (September 2022), Nina is in the midst of wrapping up press for her most recent album, Riderless Horse. It’s a landmark album for her in two ways: One: it is her first album in over a decade. In the time between this album and 2010’s Outlaster, she essentially vanished from the public eye, except for one single that she released in 2018 called Handmade Card. Two: it is the first release since the suicide of her partner Kennan Gudjonsson. She has openly stated in interviews recently that Kennan had a lot of input into almost all aspects of her career, so this album, in her view, is also her first ever “solo” album as it is the first time she’s ever made music without her former lover. In the press surrounding Riderless Horse Nina has gone into a lot of detail around the nature of her relationship with Gudjonsson, particularly with regards to his controlling, manipulative behaviour and how long it really took her to see it. Needless to say, there was no way we couldn’t bring this up in any conversation about Nina Nastasia’s music given how integral Gujonsson was, by her own admission, to her music. On this week’s episode we chat about some more biographical elements of her life, focusing on her relationship with Gudjonsson, how it effected the music, her personally and the overall trajectory of her career. There is discussion of abuse in this episode, so please bear that in mind before listening. Next week: we talk exclusively about her music, so tune in!

Once, a little while ago, Chris, Dave and Mark decided to review their first ever demos. Soon after we asked people to send this their first demos so that we could have a wee listen and (probably) a wee laugh at what other people got up to in their first bands. Well, we’re happy to say that we revisit this concept this week with some listener submissions! We have demos from long time fans Greg Love and Thomas smart, as well as a demo from our very own co-host Crag Carrick. Glassjaw, Thrice, Funeral for a Friend and Alexisonfire are real touch points in all three demos, so that absolutely should clue you into the era that all of these were recorded and released. Despite our overall slagging of the demos, they’re actually way better than we thought. Even better than some of the stuff we did ourselves way back when, which is humbling. And probably why Chris went so hard on a few of the songs… But we digress. We’d love to do this again! So if you’re interested in sending us your first demo then do drop us an email at unsungpod (at) gmail (dot) com! Next week we chat about Nina Nastasia with Vick. Get ready to get sad.

With Chris off on tour and Mark having just returned from holidays, we needed to do something fast that didn’t require a lot of research. Mark also had to find a host because, for the first time ever, Chris was not available to do a show. In stepped Crag, and with it the idea of doing another covermount CD. You may remember that, at the end of the last one we did back in April (also with Crag) Chris plunged his hand into the great big covermount bag of doom and extracted Brutal Bunch volume 2. Well, if you do remember that – good work. If you don’t, well, you’re about to get real familiar with it real quickly. From what we could gather in our research, Metal Hammer only issued 4 Brutal Bunch covermount CDs, doing so over 1995 and 1996. Much like the last covermount we did, the MO is very different from what Kerrang! Would do with their CDs: Brutal Bunch featured established (to a greater or lesser degree) bands, the majority of which appeared to be on major labels, big indies or offshoots thereof. Volume 2 featured the likes of Korn, Helloween, Prong, Cradle of Filth among others, whereas the other 3 volumes impressively featured the likes of Alice in Chains, Skunk Anansie, Fear Factory, Silverchair and many more. Unlike the Uncut covermounts though, all of the music on these CDs was current, coming from the bands’ recent releases. Is it “brutal” though? Well, no, not especially. There’s some metal of course – it can be a Metal Hammer CD without some of that – but there’s also far too much MOR and post-grunge too. So grab a drink, sit back and relax as Mark and Crag take you on a journey through this aural hellscape of a covermount CD.

With Chris now off on tour with his rather excellent band, Outblinker, we decided to split our Diamanda Galas episode into two as both of the bois were passing each other like ships in the night this last fortnight. So this week Chris and Vicki dive deep into The Singer by Diamanda Galás and a whole lot more…

With Mark currently whirling his way around Europe, this week's (and next week's) episode fell to Chris and Vicki. The choice is somewhat...strange, and in this episode they take a look into the wild career of Diamanda Galás and all that weird noise she makes.

We’d been working hard over the last few weeks to try and secure our next interview and we’re pleased to deliver this wee gem with Chris Spencer from Unsane/Human Impact/Lamb Unlimited (and more). A lot of prep goes into interviews so that’s why don’t do them very often. Also, we get offers to interview people all the time but it’s rarely people who we think might fit the mold of this show. Unsane tick all the boxes as being an unsung band, really. It just so happens that this coincidenes with announcement of a remaster and re-release of their debut, self titled album (due late September).. Our Chris is a huge unsane fan, so to be able to interview this Chris was a real treat. Chris S was game to talk about what he felt are the highlights and lowlights of his band’s career, giving us a bunch of cool details and stories from pretty much all of their albums thus far. Later, he picked an album that he feels is unsung - the self titled debut album from Killing Joke. We had a really fun chat around that too. Catch them in tour in the UK this October, where they will exclusively be playing stuff from their early years. The remastered version of Unsane drops on September 23rd.

Taking a canter through the career of a band is often one of the best and most enlightening things about doing this podcast, and we hope it’s something you appreciate too. In fact, we know it is, cause that’s why most of you tune in. But when it comes to going through the back catalogue of Brand New, well it can start to feel a little icky. Once again, emo scholar and new friend of the pod Marisa Androvik joins us to dissect the band and in particular their acclaimed third album. We touched on the ickiness of some of the band’s lyrics during last week’s episode, of course, particularly on the first two Brand New albums. Things do get a little better towards the end of their career, but much to no one’s surprise there’s also a lot of questionable lyrics on The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. Or, we say questionable - there’s perhaps a knowingness in them, the admission that clearly Jesse knew there were skeletons that might come roaring out of the closet one day. Indeed, even the title of the album itself hints at a darkness within, and a darkness which surely did lead to his downfall back in 2017. Can we really say this album is an unsung classic though? Well, that’s truly the bone of contention here - yes, it may be their most celebrated album, but now that they’re cancelled can they ever be taken as a noted influence by bands ever again? Should we even be platforming them by discussing them in this way? Some of these questions are addressed in this episode. Some aren’t. You’ll need to listen to find out which.

A couple of weeks ago we joked that we had been cancelled. We haven’t (to our knowledge), but it did lead us to ponder - can we talk about a cancelled band? How would people react to that? And which band should we talk about? The answer wasn’t immediately clear to us at the time - there were a few options of course - but it became clearer when we spoke to someone we’ve wanted to have on the show for a while… So we enlisted the help of emo scholar and all round wonderful person Marisa Androvik. Having completed her masters thesis on this very album, and being a die hard fan of the band much like Mark was before the whole cancellation thing, it felt that Brand New would be our first shot at talking about a band “no one” listens to any more. As it turns out, we had way more to talk about than just the band’s albums and the misdeeds of Jesse Lacey. So we hope you’ll tune into part one of our Brand New retrospective.