Completely Conspicuous 658: Hits to the Dome

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025 so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Counting down our favorite albums
• Breitling's #6: Dan Bejar with another well-done Destroyer album
• "Slacker Sinatra" singing about aging
• Kumar's #6: Striking solo effort from Tunde Adebimpe
• Breitling's #5: Shoegaze goodness from NJ's High
• Kumar's #5: Dax Riggs with fuzz-laden goth grunge
• Breitling's #4: Digging the Estonian dream pop from mariin k.
• Kumar's #3: Impressive 15th solo album from Bob Mould plays to his strengths
• Still kicking ass into his mid-60s
• Breitling's #3: Boston trio with a dumb name and a great album, (T-T)b
• Kumar's #2: Mclusky returns after 21 years with a razor-sharp ripper
• Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #4: Surprise return to thunderous form from The Men
• Kumar's #1: PUP's fifth album finds them exploring more mature themes while still kicking ass
• Breitling's #1 and Kumar's #7: The four-album magnum opus from Hallelujah the Hills exceeds expectations
• Many guest appearances among the 54 songs
• Looking forward to new releases from the Lemonheads, Sloan, Superchunk, Pile, Wednesday

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 657: Charts Schmarts

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025 so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Drinking some Italian beer
• Rock is dead commercially
• Billboard album chart contains nearly no rock
• Fleetwood Mac's Rumours still riding high for some reason
• Festival cancellations: Bonnaroo, Boston Calling next year, Lollapalooza
• Too many festivals, high ticket prices
• Black Sabbath farewell show
• Lots of big rock deaths: Brian Wilson, Sly Stone, David Johansen, Marianne Faithfull, etc.
• We saw Hallelujah the Hills recently and it was glorious
• Kumar saw some shows: Frank Black, Shannon/Narducy, Gang of Four, Bob Mould
• Breitling will see Oasis in Mexico, as one does
• Who's the Who's drummer?
• Breitling's bubbling under albums: Whirr, Winter, Lunchbox, Pink Floyd reissue, Rough Francis, The Get Quick, Autocamper, Viagra Boys, Thalia Zedek Band
• Kumar's list: Kinski, Ty Segall, Civic, Cameron Keiber, Dean Wareham, Pulp, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, The Bug Club, Turnstile, The Tubs, Kestrels, Lifeguard, Hotline TNT
• Breitling's #10: An electronic collab between Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke
• Kumar's #10: Sophomore release from Horsegirl explores mellower sounds
• So much music to listen to these days
• Breitling's #9: Ambient situation delivered by William Tyler
• Of Bills Frisell and Laswell
• Kumar's #9: Post-punk ripper from Charm School
• Kurt Loder is still with us
• Kumar's #8: Heavy Spoon influence on the new album from The Convenience
• Breitling's #7: Dean Wareham is still bringing it
• To be continued 

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 656: The Battle of Evermore

Part 4 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we crown the winner of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Round 3 begins
• The Smiths vs. Led Zeppelin
• James Brown vs. Rush
• Rolling Stones vs. The Cure
• The Clash vs. The Police
• U2 vs. The Replacements
• The Who vs. Talking Heads
• Tom Petty vs. Neil Young
• The Beatles vs. David Bowie
• Round 4
• The Final Four
• The Championship

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 655: Bracketology

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we wrap up the second round of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Round 2 forced some difficult choices
• The Smiths vs. Spoon
• Led Zeppelin vs. Prince
• James Brown vs. Queens of the Stone Age
• Rush vs. Allman Brothers Band
• Rolling Stones vs. Beastie Boys
• The Cure vs. The Afghan Whigs
• The Tragically Hip vs. The Clash
• The Police vs. Mark Lanegan
• Stevie Wonder vs. U2
• Sonic Youth vs. The Replacements
• The Who vs. Beck
• Talking Heads vs. Dinosaur Jr.
• Tom Petty vs. Pixies
• Neil Young vs. Steely Dan
• Van Halen vs. Beatles
• Pearl Jam vs. David Bowie
• Next: The final two rounds

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 654: The Battle Rages On

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we wrap up the first round of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. Listen below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Finishing up the rest of round 1
• Stevie Wonder vs. the Pretenders
• Talking Heads vs. U2
• St. Vincent vs. Sonic Youth
• Elvis Costello vs. the Replacements
• R.E.M. vs. the Who
• Beck vs. Dire Straits
• Jimi Hendrix vs. Jason Isbell
• Dinosaur Jr. vs. Foo Fighters
• Drive-By Truckers vs. Tom Petty
• Pixies vs. Fleetwood Mac
• Neil Young vs. Sleater-Kinney
• Steely Dan vs. Husker Du
• Van Halen vs. Blondie
• White Stripes vs. the Beatles
• J. Geils Band vs. Pearl Jam
• Nirvana vs. David Bowie
• Coming soon: Round 2, with more tough decisions

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 653: Smarch Madness

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we talk our way through a March Madness-style tournament of our favorite rock artists. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• We left out artists that we both didn't like: Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Phish, Iron Maiden
• Also had to leave off a number of artists just for space considerations: Ramones, AC/DC, Feelies, Breeders, Camper Van Beethoven, etc.
• Some tough matchups in round 1 with randomized seeding
• The Smiths vs. PJ Harvey
• Spoon vs. Courtney Barnett
• Led Zeppelin vs. Bob Dylan
• The Cure vs. Prince
• Elton John vs. James Brown
• Pavement vs. Queens of the Stone Age
• Buffalo Tom vs. Rush
• Allman Brothers Band vs. Soundgarden
• The Kinks vs. The Rolling Stones
• Alice in Chains vs. Beastie Boys
• Bob Marley vs. The Cure
• Joe Jackson vs. The Afghan Whigs
• The Tragically Hip vs. Velvet Underground
• The Clash vs. Iggy Pop
• Stevie Ray Vaughan vs. The Police
• Sloan vs. Mark Lanegan
• To be continued with the rest of Round 1

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 652: From Bad to Worse

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about bad songs from good artists. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Songs we hate by artists we love
• Phil's #6: U2 makes a misstep
• Bono's talking tough
• Jay's #6: A #1 hit from Cheap Trick featuring outside songwriters
• The power ballad became huge for hard rock bands
• Phil's #5: AC/DC hits it big after losing their singer
• Jay's #5: When the biggest band tries to get weird
• Phil's #4: When GNR decided to cover Dylan
• They had lots of bad covers
• Jay's #4: When Aerosmith hit #1 with a soundtrack ballad
• Late-period Aerosmith is tough to take
• Phil's #3: The Smiths get preachy about animal rights
• Let's hear it for Bovine University
• Morrissey with ham-fisted lyrics about vegetarianism
• Jay's #3: R.E.M. had a couple of stinkers
• A version of the song ended up on Sesame Street
• Phil's #2: Punk rock upstarts go acoustic
• Green Day ended up becoming very mainstream
• Jay's #2: Bowie and Jagger with a very '80s abomination of a cover
• Video premiered during Live Aid
• Phil's #1: A definitive low for the Police at their most successful time
• Andy Summers wrote some bad songs every so often
• Jay's #1: Genesis with an all-timer of an offensive song
• The video alone is brutal
• Blame it on Mike Rutherford  

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.