Fountains of Wayne. Nada Surf. Alvvays. Phantom Planet. Superdrag. In the 90s, a new generation of (mostly sad) boys who grew up on the Beatles, Beach Boys, and Byrds bought distortion pedals for their electric guitars and reinterpreted 60s and 70s pop for their Gen X peers. Since then, a steady stream of louder power pop has found its way to the headphones of (mostly sad) boys (and sometimes girls), and Steven James Aguilar (Heatmaps, producer/mixer) joins me as they all square off against...

David Stuart returns for the innagural episode of a new format we are trying, focused on shorter takes from each of us, huddled around the same time period and genre. In this case, that's 2000s emo, with arguments presented about Saves the Day (3:30), Jimmy World You (32:40), Motion City Soundtrack (56:00), and The Used (1:04:00). ** JOIN THE NEW FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/802347208310205/ ** Spotify playlist for today's episode:...

* This is Part 2 -- go to last week for Part 1 * It's alternative, but not TOO crunchy. It's pop, but not TOO pop. You know what we're talking about: bands like Counting Crows, Matchbox 20, Gin Blossoms, and the Goo Goo Dolls. It's got rock instrumentation, but it's built for radio. And because these songs were so ubiquitous, hearing them takes us RIGHT BACK to our lives in the 1990s. Other artists discussed: Third Eye Blind, Dave Matthews Band, Alanis Morisette, Hootie & the Blowfish,...

It's alternative, but not TOO crunchy. It's pop, but not TOO pop. You know what we're talking about: bands like Counting Crows, Matchbox 20, Gin Blossoms, and the Goo Goo Dolls. It's got rock instrumentation, but it's built for radio. And because these songs were so ubiquitous, hearing them takes us RIGHT BACK to our lives in the 1990s. Other artists discussed: Third Eye Blind, Dave Matthews Band, Alanis Morisette, Hootie & the Blowfish, and many more. Spotify playlist for today's...

** JOIN THE NEW FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/802347208310205/ ** By "new," we mean "their first album came out in 2015 or later." Chad Mitchell, maybe my "best new music friend" if you know what I mean by that, joins me to talk through each of our top 10 "new" emo and/or punk bands. I chose to be vulnerable and selected mine entirely based on the total number of Apple Music plays they have in my library. Don't judge me! There was some confusion as to whether or not...

Just like last time with The Starting Line's "Direction," "Emotion" will have to go up against the winner of an 8-album mini-tournament of 2015's biggest pop albums: OneDirection, Mark Ronson, Justin Beiber, Adele, Ellie Goulding, Selena Gomez, and more. Joe Greenetz (Sherwood) joins me again and does the deciding! Nothing weird about two men in their early 40s talking about music kind of made for children, right? Spotify playlist for today's episode:...

My old friend DJay Brawner, filmmaker, music video director, and co-owner of the Tuff creative agency, joins me to talk through 10 important music video projects from the early days of his career (No Use for a Name) to his current projects (Taking Back Sunday, All Time Low). We get a behind-the-scenes sense of DJay's job on set and stories about many of the videos. https://tuff.la/ Spotify playlist for today's episode:...

** This is Part 3 of 3 ** Lace up your boots, clip on your suspenders, and put on your pork pie hat because we are taking back to your roots! Remember when stomp-clapping indie folk took the entire (white) world by storm? Well, some of that stuff holds up, some doesn't, and plenty of what's been recording both before and since is haunting and beautiful. Ben Bishop (90s Punk Tournament, Dad's Cassette Case) returns for a 34-artist mega tournament of endless-wheat-fields proportions. We're...

** This is Part 2 of 3 ** Lace up your boots, clip on your suspenders, and put on your pork pie hat because we are taking back to your roots! Remember when stomp-clapping indie folk took the entire (white) world by storm? Well, some of that stuff holds up, some doesn't, and plenty of what's been recording both before and since is haunting and beautiful. Ben Bishop (90s Punk Tournament, Dad's Cassette Case) returns for a 34-artist mega tournament of endless-wheat-fields proportions. We're...

Lace up your boots, clip on your suspenders, and put on your pork pie hat because we are taking back to your roots! Remember when stomp-clapping indie folk took the entire (white) world by storm? Well, some of that stuff holds up, some doesn't, and plenty of what's been recording both before and since is haunting and beautiful. Ben Bishop (90s Punk Tournament, Dad's Cassette Case) returns for a 34-artist mega tournament of endless-wheat-fields proportions. We're talkin' Sufjan Stevens, Wilco,...

Some songs come straight out of the gate like bats out of hell. They announce themselves with maximum energy as the band first kicks in. I love these songs! For the first installment, Captain Ryan Downs joins me as we each choose 6 of our favorite rip-roarin' classic tunes. Spotify playlist for today's episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6qjeLJStfGqwlIF3T7Oq7h?si=cd3d89cbec5c425b Dan's music licensing library: https://dankoch.net/library Email Dan:...

California punks Rancid and NOFX have tread much of the same ground, festival lineups, a split EP where they cover each other's songs, and mental space among their large fanbases. But who is better? This is the obvious question that needs answering. You're welcome! My good friend Joey Libolt joins me as Rancid and their family of artists, including Transplants, Operation Ivy, and Tim Armstrong's solo output, face off against NOFX's angsty skate punk. "Like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,...

Part 2! Spotify playlist for today's episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0uZQdfHJwdw8vzqlAWqtDA?si=f40f7404111844bd Dan's music licensing library: https://dankoch.net/library Email Dan: [email protected] IG: www.instagram.com/prettygoodvibespod/ Artwork: https://www.nickryanluevano.com/

Who is your favorite Beatle? And do you take into account what they wrote, recorded, and released after the Beatles' breakup? The Fab Four's collective solo efforts are an uneven but rich trove of pop music from the 1970s and beyond. Tyson Motsenbocker returns to help me run a death match of albums by John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Spotify playlist for today's episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0uZQdfHJwdw8vzqlAWqtDA?si=f40f7404111844bd Dan's music licensing library:...

We're trying out a new episode style, which on-air I called "Sugar, We're Throwin' Down" but in the future, I will probably refer to it as "David vs. Goliath." At any rate, it was my guest David Stuart's idea and basic structure, and I love it! He brought in a favorite and underrated album, The Starting Line's "Direction," which competed head-to-head with the winner of an 8-album mini-tournament of established emo/punk releases from that same year. Also, Kristen Tideman (of Justin Vernon...

As my guest (Joe Greenetz of Sherwood) explains, for two glorious years in the mid-late 1990s, the Music Television channel put out compilation albums of new songs by breaking artists, most of them firmly in the rock/alternative realm. And, frankly, the people deserve to know definitively which of the two volumes is the superior collection. So we had no choice but to test out a new episode style/game, basically a soccer penalty kick-type "shootout," track competing against track. No one cares...

** This is Part 2 ** If you know, you know. And if you don't know, the chances that you will be glad that you found out are pretty slim! Artists include Pierce the Veil, Sason, Silverstein, Hawthorne Heights, Underoath, Emery, Chiodos, and more. Jed Payne (Church and Other Drugs) is my fantastic co-host for this one! Spotify playlist for today's episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Gi1fs63mkkVz2XexnLrRd?si=9cc0b7d94ce24ba5 Dan's music licensing library:...

If you know, you know. And if you don't know, the chances that you will be glad that you found out are pretty slim! Artists include Pierce the Veil, Sason, Silverstein, Hawthorne Heights, Underoath, Emery, Chiodos, and more. Jed Payne (Church and Other Drugs) is my fantastic co-host for this one! Spotify playlist for today's episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Gi1fs63mkkVz2XexnLrRd?si=9cc0b7d94ce24ba5 Dan's music licensing library: https://dankoch.net/library Email Dan:...

** This is part 2 -- start at Part 1 ** Do you have what it takes to become Chief Rudeboy?! Grab your passports and your time machines as Chris Cron (Melee) and I take you back to 1960s Jamaica and 1980s England. First Wave and 2-Tone ska artists will duke it out in a winner-takes-all tournament. Spotify playlist for today's episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1GSiMy9phtwtmltmkJjXRh?si=d95f746d316b4ef4 Dan's music licensing library: https://dankoch.net/library Email Dan:...

Do you have what it takes to become Chief Rudeboy?! Grab your passports and your time machines as Chris Cron (Melee) and I take you back to 1960s Jamaica and 1980s England. First Wave and 2-Tone ska artists will duke it out in a winner-takes-all tournament. The actual tournament starts around the 29:00 mark if you'd like to skip our throat-clearing and personal ska stories. Don't worry -- eventually we will get around a to a Third Wave ska-punk tourney! Part 2 drops next week. Spotify...

** This is part 2 -- start last week for part 1 ** Do you stop at Pinkerton? The Green Album? Or do you celebrate the guys' entire catalog? Original member of the Rebel Weezer Alliance (and high school bandmate of mine) Roman Honeycutt joins me as seemingly every single idea Rivers Cuomo has ever had dukes it out in a 16-album tournament! I come to some important realizations here, both as a result of prepping for this episode and recording it. On=W=ard! Spotify playlist for today's...

Do you stop at Pinkerton? The Green Album? Or do you celebrate the guys' entire catalog? Original member of the Rebel Weezer Alliance (and high school bandmate of mine) Roman Honeycutt joins me as seemingly every single idea Rivers Cuomo has ever had dukes it out in a 16-album tournament! I come to some important realizations here, both as a result of prepping for this episode and recording it. On=W=ard! Part 2 drops next week. Spotify playlist for today's episode:...

** This is Part 2 -- start at last week's Part 1 for context ** I met my guest and friend Jeff Martin on tour in 2005; both Sherwood and his band This Day & Age were opening up for The Rocket Summer. Over the years, we have stayed in touch, and this week and next we will be talking through our favorite tourmates from those years, including Hellogoodbye, Say Anything, The Format, Copeland, and many more. We also talk about the role that many years on the road has played in our development...

I met my guest and friend Jeff Martin on tour in 2005; both Sherwood and his band This Day & Age were opening up for The Rocket Summer. Over the years, we have stayed in touch, and this week and next we will be talking through our favorite tourmates from those years, including Hellogoodbye, Say Anything, The Format, Copeland, and many more. We also talk about the role that many years on the road has played in our development and how that time reverberates in our careers and lives to this...

** This is Part 2 -- start last week with Part 1 ** Summer approaches. Days grow longer. You forget to wear sunscreen, but you never forget your first musical love -- and mine was The Beach Boys. Jason Holstrom (United State of Electronica, Sunstrom Sound) joins me for a massive 32-album tournament, a winding journey through the entirety of their catalog. This part is 2 hours long, with another 3 hours and change to come next week, but with so much good stuff to talk about, can you blame us?...