The Next Episode

We bring "The Ladies of the 80's" to a close with an unmitigated banger.  Not talking about sausage but this British(?) crew led by The Dread Pirate Hynde, purely plundered our hearts and minds.  No more rhyming.  I mean it!  Beware the rope-a-dope of Side B...

Ladies of the 80"s can't stop and won't stop.  Let's cast our ears back to the "Reagan Era" for this delightful second album by The Bangles.  We'll see what a young "up and comer", Prince had to contribute and how the gals had everyone walking like Egyptians.

We're still about the "Ladies of the 80s" in this episode.  Out of the early 80s L.A. punk scene came a force of nature known as the Go-Gos.  With a little bit of help from an "old school" record man behind the board, they delivered a classic that won't quit.  Just like Jared's love for Belinda Carlisle.  

We're going to kick off our "Ladies of the 80's" run with the queen herself, Pat Benatar.  "Crimes of Passion" is her second album.  Released in 1980, no one could match her tough-guy femininity or her singing chops.  Throw in the guitar man Neil Giraldo and stand back and turn it up.  There's a reason these two have been making beautiful music together for over 40 years.  

Before things got dark and sad, there was a time when STP was on top of the world.  Their second album quieted a lot of the critics who had perhaps written the band off as "Grunge" pretenders to the throne.  Perhaps we needed to be convinced as well.  Sure, they could grunge it up with the best of them but they also had places to go outside of those lazy corners of pop rockdom.  Come and have a listen to a record that makes it feel like it's always raining in San Diego.  We've been converted.  Hallelujah.

This week we have our good "friend of the show", Troy Carter back in with us to take a listen to the second album from Wilco.  Join us as we geek out and sing along with these "Icons of Americans".  And... maybe some bad Celine Dion impressions. Dig it!

OK.  So, what is AC/DC's second album actually?  Nobody cares as long as it rocks like Ayers.  Enjoy this episode full of totally non-offensive Australian impressions.  Sorry.

How come we don't listen to The Cult more often?  Can a guitar solo be for the entire length of a song?  What the hell is a Fairlight? 
Come on.  You know we got these answers for you.  Here comes the rain, suckers!

Hardly can believe it's taken us this long to get around to The Doors.  American icons.  Art rockers who can right a hit.  Subjects of a brilliant documentary by Oliver Stone.  We might have realized that 99% of what we know about this band, we learned from Val Kilmer and Co.  Listen two times!

Rudy can't fail and neither can this episode!  We are joined by Rev (The Drowns) to break down and enjoy sophomore effort from The Clash.  Can "punk" be more of a credo than a sound?  Does Blue Oyster Cult have anything to do with this?  Is Jar Jar a Sith Lord? 
Join us as we answer these and all the questions you were too scared to ask.  It's drug stabbin' time.
Check out the latest album from The Drowns, "Lunatics" in stores and streaming now.
https://shop.piratespressrecords.com/pages/the-drowns

This week was so much fun because we had not one, but two guests to help us peel this onion.  That "onion" being "Southern Harmony and Musical Companion" by Georgia's own, Black Crowes.  How much life must be lived to sing the blues?  When does ignoring Rick Rubin go right?  Who killed that bird upon your windowsill?  Why does Led Zeppelin come up so much in this episode?  We promise to answer at least two of those questions.  Special thanks to Joey Mazak and Troy Carter for their help on this one.  

Ok, right out the gate there's an asterisk on this episode.  We know it's not the second album.  It's their fourth.  See, if you have a guest fly all the way out from the east cost, we let 'em bend the rules.  To be fair, it's the second album from the "classic lineup".  That counts, right? And there is plenty of Philip K. Dickin' around. Anyway, Thank you to John for joining us on this one.  A good time was had.  Get into "Sister" by Sonic Youth.

This week we are joined by friend and podcaster, Elise Ballard (The Importance of Wine Podcast).  She has chosen the most excellent second album, "Rid Of Me" by PJ Harvey.  Pop the cork on some vino and revel in the veritas. Cheers!

Sir Reginald Dwight.  The Rocket Man.  Captain Fantastic.  In 1970 though, plain ol' Elton John and his band Hookfoot messed around and dropped a jewel.  Let's, shall we?

  1996 was a wild time. The President played saxophone, got BJs, and "smoked" grass.  A "Florida Man" tried to kill Bjork with a mail bomb and got WAY too close to succeeding.  The Feds caught up with Ted Kaczynski who tried to kill some professors with mail bombs and unfortunately was quite successful.  Tupac was gunned down in Sin City.  
     Grunge was also dead. Buried by waves of Bushes and Seven Mary Threes.  Yeah, we still had Rage Against the Machine but they were headed into the "Renegades" era.  The Strokes were just getting their first pubes and Metallica got haircuts.  "Rocking" was becoming precarious.  
     Was there another option?  Maybe, just maybe, we could all just chill the F out for a minute.  
     Enter the Crows.  
     Their second album hits all the right notes for this foul year of our Lord.  Mellow enough but without the Hootie-isms.  Poppy enough but with a poetic bent that owed itself to its Bay Area roots.  Just "rockin" enough to fend off Oasis fans at a festival. 
     Let's party like Woodstock '99 hasn't happened yet.

Fade into this, fool.  Some records are for a certain type of listening.  Some records make you want to pump your fist, shake your booty, or drive fast.  Mazzy's second album will not make you drive fast.  In fact, I wouldn't recommend operating any machinery heavier than a roach-clip while listening to this.  Settle into the gentle groove with us and just relax already.  Seriously!  Fu#&ing relax!  The world (TNE staff) needs this right now.

Here comes another recent second album.  We're living in the now!  "Happier Than Ever" is the second offering from Los Angeles native, Billie Eilish.  She gets by with a little help from her songwriting partner/producer/brother, Phineas.  ASMR pop is here and you'll EFFing like it!

If a disco record drops in a disco-less world, does it make a sound?  You tell me.  If you didn't hear Dua Lipa last year, your quarantine bubble is too tight.  And, maybe get the internet.  In 2021, this album was the star of every Zoom dance party, car stereo, and gas station radio.  Oh, yeah, and the internet.  Time to "Blawst Off"!

This week, with Chris out on assignment, Peter joins Jared in the "117 Studios Compound" to discuss one of his favorite second albums.
Circa Survive's second album, "On Letting Go".  
Jared is just not that into it, historically. 
Will he change his tune?  
Will Peter slander Led Zeppelin?  
Will both of our hosts admit that it's not worth the work to be "cool"? 
Turn up and find out on The Next Episode.

     We're breaking from tradition again.  Sometimes we just want to take an episode to shed some light on an overlooked record or maybe one that the artist would just as soon you overlook.  Such is the case with "One Hot Minute" from the RHCP.  
     What do you do when you lose a superstar guitarist of a generation?  Well, sometimes if you're lucky, you just scoop up another one.  They didn't have to look that far even though they did. (Shout out Arik Marshall).  Just so happened that a young but established guitar god was fresh out of a gig and lookin to mingle.  I mean, come on.  Dave Navarro got that Sammy Hagar deal.  
     If all you remember from that era is "aeroplane", you might need a revisit and you have come to the right place.  We've got drugs, rock n roll, and sex.  Well, not so much sex.  This might go down as the Chili's least horny record to date.  They made up for it with lavish displays of homoeroticism and boundary pushing videos.  
     In this episode, we thank Dave for his service and hopefully reacquaint everyone with a semi-lost classic.